$470 RepRap Derived 3D Printer Going Into Production

An anonymous reader writes "South African makerstore OpenHardware.co.za has designed and built a new RepRap-derivative 3D printer which it plans to sell for less than R5000 ($470). The first completed units are being put together now, with an eye to shipping late June. Store owner Peter van der Walt says that he designed Babybot — which has a print area equivalent to a RepRap Prusa Mendel-style machine — in order to reduce build and support costs. He's been selling various RepRap designs in kit form for two years, but as they become more popular is struggling to keep up with demand and handle returns. By sourcing more materials locally — he also designs his own controller boards — he's looking to beat the likes of RS Components and large shopping chains which have begun shipping the likes of Cubify in the country."

A da Vinici is $499

[AndyKron]

WTF is that? A da Vinici is $499, and doesn't look like a DIY project

Re:A da Vinici is $499

[gl4ss]

have fun hacking the filament reels on da vinci and generally not fixing/replacing anything.

this thing looks pretty solid corexy (I think) setup. should get nice speeds and all the parts are replaceable and no properiaty shit with filament and free choice of slicer sw.. this looks more like it could run production.

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[Charliemopps]

I agree, it does look a lot more solid. I'm starting to think 3D printers are getting into the price range that they might be worth purchasing. I think the last thing I'm waiting on is for the price of 3D scanners to come down. If I could get a combination unit, basically this thing with a built in scanner, for about the same price, I'd probably pull the trigger. The ability to put in a plastic part and push a "Copy" button would be of great use to me and many of my projects.

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[Mark of the North]

The current craze of 3D printers use additive methods (FDM). This makes it impossible to print a whole class of pretty simple shapes. For example a scan of myself with my arms held up 60-degrees above horizontal: printable (assuming there's not much overhang in my belly area, and ignoring my chin). A scan of myself with my arms held down 60-degrees below horizontal: unprintable without support. A sphere, for example isn't printable on a standard Reprap-type printer without support. You can add support or pr

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[Charliemopps]

yea, but getting me 75% of the way would be helpful. A photocopier doesn't make a perfect copy, but good enough for what you need. That's what I'm looking for.

For example, the most common thing I'd copy are parts. Bushings, handles, gears, etc... Positioned correctly a gear could be copied if the resolution were high enough. A set of Russian Matryoshka dolls? You'd need some sort of Xray scanner for that. That's not what I'm looking for. If I can print out the majority of what I need and only have to follow

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[ArcadeMan]

You might want to look into a small desktop CNC machine, the parts would be much stronger and you wouldn't be limited to plastic filament as your only material choice.

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[Charliemopps]

I already have one. And it's not a desktop model. You'd be amazed what you can get at auctions.

But again, I have to log into autocad (or something similar) to use it. That eliminates its usefulness in a lot of cases. If I can order the part for $20, its not worth my time. Being able to copy a part on the spot however... now that'd be handy.

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[ArcadeMan]

Roland MDX-540? Five axis Thermwood?

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[LifesABeach]

All I keep thinking of is that Robot Chicken is going to have some awesome material to work with.

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[Anonymous Coward]

Soluble support material is solved. Adding of support to a model is trivial from a solid modeling software perspective. Printing of soluble support material with dual heads exists as does the software to add it to the model.

The main obstacles are plastic cost and print time. If it takes many hours to print a relatively small object that costs tens of dollars of plastic and then more hours to dissolve away the support material you have a two day turn around time and high cost. You have a low volume high

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[ArcadeMan]

Not only does it look like a sturdy CoreXY setup, there's a ballscrew for the Z-axis. At the price he's asking, I would never have guessed it used one.

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[gl4ss]

i'm confused about the pictures on the article. which one of them is the bot? half of them are about their opencnc machine and there's a corexy bot there that does look sweet(and sturdy), but is it this price or wtf?

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[Zaldarr]

It's a goddamn useless article. The video at the end was also just so so unneeded. 7 seconds of whirring? Wow that's certainly informative.

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[Adam Oxford]

Hi - there's only one picture of the OpenCNC machine, with a caption that says "The OpenCNC machine on which the new printer is based. The rest are all of the new printer.

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[Ginger Unicorn]

You're momma didn't complain. ..oh wait

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[iggymanz]

that's a pretty big yoda head, which is all shit like this is good for anyway

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[50000BTU_barbecue]

Pretty much everything is made in China now.

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[ArcadeMan]

Made in China 2014 is the new Made in Japan 1984.

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[ArcadeMan]

And do you think the magic plastic filament comes from thin air?

Here are couple of $250-300 3D printers

[randomErr]

Hey all, theres been a bunch of low cost 3D printers poping up at Hack-A-Day lately:

$300 Pick and Place / 3D printer - http://hackaday.io/project/963... [hackaday.io]
Prototype of a Servo based Printer (much cheap elecytronic) - http://hackaday.com/2014/05/26... [hackaday.com]

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[ArcadeMan]

I don't get the idea of using servos for anything CNC, lasercutter or 3D-printer related to lower costs. You can easily get 5$ stepper motors these days when buying in small quantities (100+).