Looking for a reprap kit for around 500$

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Originally Posted by Stigern

Are there any reasonable priced kossels?

Geoff: The printer I linked to is that a Aurora Z605? And why not? :P

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Kossels can be bought for well under $400, the components can be bought for even less, if you can buy all the parts minus the plastic thats what you want.


That is not an Aurora (they have a clear perspex frame) and the reason I say don't buy one is because it was an utter waste of $600 and has taken me months to build new parts for it just to get it working.

They advertise it as 3mm / 1.75mm ... it isnt. Its only a 3mm head. They also advertise "good quality moulded parts!" BS!! they are the worst plastic parts Ive ever seen, your flashforge is capable of much better.

Alot of the cheap prusa's are using The Melzi mini board, which does not support an LCD display, so if you want a display, you need to then go buy a RAMPS kit and replace the default board.

MY z605 so far, I have had to buy a new hobbed bolt, build a new geared extruder for it, new idlers, carriages, new hot end... If I wanted to spend $800, I would have gone and bought a second hand FF, but I wanted a 500-600$ DIY kit, and holy crap, was the the Aurora DIY.

Geoff:

So the one I linked to is not a Aurora, and is more like the makerfarms prusa kit?

Could you point me in the right direction for a kossel kit? If only the hardware and I print the plastics. Or both :)
I'm kind of in a tired, wait for my Solidoodle Press for a long long time. So I tought I might have more use for a Prusa i3 or a Kossel.

To put it, is the i3 from the link i provided not recommended?

Seems like a nice deal, cheap and alot of options. And upgradeable with a LCD and such later on. Or does it have the same mainboard as the Aurora?

PS Sorry if I'm asking the same questions several times, I just don't want to waste money on a kit.

EDIT:

Just found this one:

http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/3...extrusion.html

It that a recommended kit? Seems like a good combo.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stigern

Geoff:

So the one I linked to is not a Aurora, and is more like the makerfarms prusa kit?

Could you point me in the right direction for a kossel kit? If only the hardware and I print the plastics. Or both :)
I'm kind of in a tired, wait for my Solidoodle Press for a long long time. So I tought I might have more use for a Prusa i3 or a Kossel.

To put it, is the i3 from the link i provided not recommended?

Seems like a nice deal, cheap and alot of options. And upgradeable with a LCD and such later on. Or does it have the same mainboard as the Aurora?

PS Sorry if I'm asking the same questions several times, I just don't want to waste money on a kit.

EDIT:

Just found this one:

http://www.makerfarm.com/index.php/3...extrusion.html

It that a recommended kit? Seems like a good combo.

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From what I've seen the makerfarm machine is pretty good, and Josh who runs it is a really nice guy, down the line, you won't have any service complaints or problems. Sure, it might take a little while to ship, but they can't help being popular I guess.
At least your build will be well instructed and plenty of resources to help. The Auroraz605 .. you only find poor suckers like me that hate the thing when you go forum searching.

The I3 in the link you provided is also a good one, but I'd probably go the makerfarm and simply because more people own it and have made upgrades for it (oh so many) and the hot end seems to be better in it.

Thanks, I went for the 10" version of the makerfarm Prusa i3 :)

What really sold it for me was the detailed build videos. I also ordered a full graphical lcd kit from eBay, and a Meanwell 30A 12v power supply.

Now I only need to find a 10x10 glass piece for the bed. If I'm printing with PLA is it possible to just add bluetape to the bed without a glass ?

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Originally Posted by Stigern

Thanks, I went for the 10" version of the makerfarm Prusa i3 :)

What really sold it for me was the detailed build videos. I also ordered a full graphical lcd kit from eBay, and a Meanwell 30A 12v power supply.

Now I only need to find a 10x10 glass piece for the bed. If I'm printing with PLA is it possible to just add bluetape to the bed without a glass ?

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Congrats, you will love that printer, I know I do! Regarding the bed for PLA, I would personally still source glass. most Home Depot's or Lowes or any home improvement store should be able to cut you a piece for $5-10. The problems I had with mine was that the heat bed itself had a warp in it, something Colin says is to be expected on larger heat beds. My wooden bed frame too, has a slight warp to it, so printing directly onto the carriage wouldn't be advisable either. Really, the glass makes sure everything is true and flat.

One other thing I've noticed, I know a lot of people print PLA without a heated bed, and I did too on my printrbot, but I find keeping the bed around 50-60 degrees while printing PLA just makes my prints stick that much better. I found that printing PLA on a cold bed without any heat would occasionally result in curling and separation from the bed

Well a broscillate(how is it written again?) is very expensive to get here where I live. Do you use regular glass?

That I can get at a fair price :-)

I am using regular glass on my build. I run it as high as 100c, although mostly in the 80c to 90c range. One thing I did with my build is use an aluminum heat spreader, It is necessary for me because the bed is much smaller than my glass (I used a round mirror), you may be able to get away without the heat spreader. I also use thermal paste between the bed and glass to ensure even heating.

I find that proper thermal transfer prolongs the glass life-cycle as it provides even heating, therefore less shock to the glass, and less likely to crack. You can buy a piece of glass and a glass cutter for less than 10$ combined and cut 2 or 3 pieces out of the same glass piece. Just be careful with the edges.

I've run regular glass for years now and have never had it shatter or break. Specifically, I use mirror tiles cut to fit using a regular glass cutter and a straight edge. They are 3mm thick and I like the look. My bed goes up to 120C for ABS. Never a problem and I don't baby them at all. I can't attest to the advantage of borosilicate as I've never used it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Stigern

Well a broscillate(how is it written again?) is very expensive to get here where I live. Do you use regular glass?

That I can get at a fair price :-)

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I have used a few different materials now..

for PLA, I have used (non heated)
Pyrex(Borosciliate or however you spell it...) Normal Glass, Blue Tape, A Mirror, MDF board, Slate (yes slate from an old billiard table) and they all worked very well, except on super big parts where they would lift a bit. You just want a flat surface really.

If it's going to be heated, well so far nothing has cracked for me that I heated up, even the mirror - but that being said I have seen it happen before, I have even seen people crack pyrex by not regulating their hotbed temp and just letting it go wild (plugging it in and hope for the best type people)
But it is not expensive stuff, I bought 3 x 20x20cm pyrex plates for $30

Bought me a set of glass cutters ;)

Will try to cut me a piece of glass or mirror when my Prusa arrives.