Cobalt is up and printing

[jeffbert]

Where did you get the CAD specs for the pieces?

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

http://Www.thingiverse.com

[AstroBlaster1998]

How hard is it to make a 3d printer and how much does it cost.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

At this point I think I have somewhere between $300-400 in parts in my printer. Quite frankly I've lost track! Most of the machine was built out of hardware purchased from the HomeDepot stores. Things like ball bearing drawer slides, aluminum and steel bar and angle stock, threaded rod, nuts and bolts, some fiberboard, springs, sheet aluminum etc. Some of this stuff I already had on hand from other projects. I also destroyed a few drill bits (wore them out going though 1/8" steel).

Some stuff I had to buy on line: ball bearing assemblies, electronics (a RAMPS Arduino shield, an Arduino Mega, stepper motor driver boards, a display board with a rotary encoder), and a hot end kit (the actual 'print nozzle'). I had a few surplus stepping motors, I bought some more surplus at $5 each (an incredible find, usually these are about $10-20 each). Oh and spools of plastic cost around $20-50 per lb. A lb spool will go a long way though.

If you are skillful with a drill press, table saw, taping holes, measuring everything to precision, soldering, and some basic computer skills you shouldn't have any problem building one from scratch(!) like I did. Oh and you need to own all those tools as well.

There are some excellent kits available for under $600 that are good for someone just wanting to explore the technology. Printrbot sells a very simple kit for $350 that has a build area of 4"x4"x4", and a somewhat better machine for about $550 with a 6"x6"x6" build area. There are also many dealers on ebay with Reprap kits in much the same price range ($400-$800).

If you are really interested check out Reprap.org they have lots of links to good information on the subject.

[AstroBlaster1998]

Thank you for the info.