Ned Help in Choosing Model

Hi all,

I am a complete novice to the world of reprap. I want to build a Prusa I3, however I am having difficulty in choosing a specific model. I have access to 3D printer and laser cutter to cut wood. Which model should I choose? Where shall I find complete documentation for it? Please post the links for the same.

Looking forward to reply!

Thanking you,
Shantanu.

There is no single location to find complete documentation on any of these printers. They are done piece by piece by a lot of people. Nobody ever likes to do the paperwork ....

For laser cut wood, I'd simply clone the MakerFarm kit. All the information on cutting the wood is out there.The doc's they put out on how to build the kit are as good as anything you will find. The resulting printer is no worse / no better than any of the rest of the common i3 designs. It's certainly better than any of the other laser cut printers I have seen.

One alternative is to build a kit as your first printer and to do a scratch built machine as your second printer .....

I would go for a well documented kit as a first build. This is a bit different from a Prusa 13 but the documentation and support are excellent. [forums.reprap.org]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2013 06:21PM by Ralph.Hilton.

try ord bot kit,
it's strong and durable
once set up, it's a good machine

Thank you all for help and I will surely keep your suggestions in mind. I am more inclined to build from scratch as I have access to this amazing workshop and not a lot of money. I went through some resources and found that Rerap Rework is relatively well documented and might get to buy the frame online. How does that seem?

Except for the frame, there is very little you can make yourself on these printers. The printed parts are cheap, and yes you can make them. As far as I'm concerned - they don't count.

What counts:

1) Stepper motors
2) Electronics (Ramps + mega)
3) Hot end
4) Heated bed
5) Smooth rod - surface hardened / chrome plated / ground to tight tolerances
6) Bearings of various sorts
7) LCD display & SD card slot
8) Industrial power supply
9) Timing belts and gears

The frame is a $100 or so cost. The stuff listed above will be way more than that. I'm assuming that you have thread rod and hardware (nuts and bolts) already. Different designs will have different amounts of the stuff on the list. It will add up. The list is not complete, there are still things like fans that you will need that aren't on there, but are pretty cheap. Go with the best design you can find. The $300 to $500 cost of the stuff above is what will be the issue, not the $100 or so you may save making a frame.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/23/2013 09:10PM by uncle_bob.

if you want to buy ordbot, dont buy from raprapdiscount, i bought 2 months ago, now still pain, lot of problem.

mega2560, ramp, lcd, got problem. i still headach how to fix it with none spport from the reprapdiscount. no build instruction, no reply.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2013 06:06AM by newkid.

There are a few common Rep Rap printers that a lot of dealers do as kits. The i3 is one, there are several others. There are also printers that are much less common and that have far fewer dealers doing up kits. In general competition is a good thing. Some of the less common printers are indeed very well supported, often only by a single dealer. In other cases dealers have come up with a custom design that is optimized mainly for low cost, with performance or ease of build not being much of a consideration.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/26/2013 12:39PM by uncle_bob.