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by elliotf 4431 days ago
1) First printer: emaker huxley indiegogo kit. Terrible.

2) Second printer: printrbot plus kickstarter kit. Mostly good, and a good starting point.

3) Third printer: Graber i3, laser cut myself and parts sourced myself. Excellent, and the cheapest of the three.

I've found it to be fun, useful, and educational. I'm using math I've not used in over a decade. SOHCAHTOA FTW!

Depending on what kind of printer you get, you may want to join a local 3d printing group. It's very very helpful to have people with experience help you. Also, it pays to know someone that can print spare parts for you.

If you have access to a laser cutter, I rearranged and modified the original Graber for "smaller" laser cutters (24"x18") : https://github.com/elliotf/Graber/tree/24x18_layout/24x18

I've come to enjoy designing things in openscad "The programmer's CAD": http://www.openscad.org/

One thing was a parametric Graber design (which I've not yet lasercut) : https://github.com/elliotf/parametric-graber
2 comments
voltagex_ 4431 days ago
For a lot of people, the easiest place to get started will be your local hackerspace.
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elliotf 4431 days ago
I agree; it's a great place to get started.

However, even if you don't have a hackerspace, you might have a local reprap group!

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KnightHawk3 4431 days ago
Is there a reason you own three printers?
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elliotf 4431 days ago
Sure, there are a few reasons:

1) The first one was horrible, so I eventually ended up scrapping it and using it for parts.

2) The second one (Printrbot+) is/was fine, but is _extremely_ awkward to move around: The printer, power supply, and print spool are three separate pieces, and it had some serious design flaws, so I build my third, which I can carry the entire assembly with one hand. I used the second to print parts for the third, then (once I had the third working correctly) I rebuilt the Printrbot+ addressing some of its flaws.

3) It's fun to design and make 3d printers.

I might sell the Printrbot but I'm not sure what kind of market there is for used hobbyist 3d printers.

I'll probably build more, too. It's my first adult hobby that is unrelated to my work, so it's a nice break. A corexy printer is next up (http://corexy.com/)

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