Which parts to you buy the most ofr your 3D printer?

I know we all have to buy Filament, but I'm wondering which parts most of you guys end up having to buy the most (i.e. replacement parts).

I'm curious about this, too. What parts do you have to replace? Due to the part wearing out or breaking?

If you are a dumbass like me, you have to buy a replacement Arduino Board and a RAMPS board, plus possibly stepper driver boards. But only once. (I am a quick learner).

I have a MakerFarm Prusa. I find that I have to replace the nylon tubing that connects the Z-axis screws to their steppers. At $1.20 per metre, that's not a big expense.

Old Man Emu

So far i only replaced 1 plastic piece of my makerfarm kit, That is from the Gregs extruder,
It became to wear, and it wasnt print that well either,

After that i dindnt replace anything yet, I just added stuff.

I do have to say that i might replace the Z couplings, Those stock plastic tubes don't seem that convincing to me ;P

I was looking at that coupling system today, and needing to replace the original bits of plastic tube because they don't grip the threaded rod very well.

I was thinking of printing a short tube and putting two holes in the wall at each end so I could use a grub screw to lock the tube to the threaded rod and shaft.

Movement at these couplings could introduce an error in Z-axis movement.

Old Man Emu

Controller boards!
Sanguinos - Had two die. No issue so fair with Arduino based systems.
Had to swap out a Pololu.

Otherwise not much has ever gone wrong in 2 years printing.
I have upgraded one printer quite a bit, but was never anything broken.

Reprap's are fairly reliable... Controller boards tho... :mad:

I've replaced my print plate, and that's about it. I had a glass one that I totally cracked.

I use a Replicator 2, and I just recently had to replace the extruder. I didn't think they were supposed to go. I don't know if I got a bad one or what, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the heck was wrong.

I have had my printer for 6 months so far and haven't had to replace anything yet.