Build your own 3D printer - RepRap

There are many 3D printers that a person can pick up, off the shelf, at your local

electronics or computer shop.  And there are other, 3D printers that one can buy a kit and put it together.

The reason we chose to highlight this 3D printer first, is because it is fully Open Source and has been around the longest.  The Rep Rap can be viewed as the grandfather of home made 3D printers.

No, it's not the most beautiful thing to look at, if one expects to see high gloss, opaque plastic encompassing most of the components and perhaps a nice, clear plastic shield enclosure of the printing mechanism.  But for many, being able to see all the parts, is beautiful in its own way.

Even though it may look daunting, it isn't that difficult to make for anyone who has assembled a constructor set or some of the more elaborate furniture you might come across.  And as a fully functional, 3D printer, the price can be much less than an off the shelf unit.

Open source hardware is a fairly new phenomenon.  And as described in the RepRap wikipedia article, the RepRap started its life in 2005.  Yet we feel its important to stress that, as mentioned above, the RepRap was the basis for many of the other home built 3D printers available today as well as some that are no longer home built, but proprietary.

Probably the most noteworthy information about the RepRap is, it is a self replicating machine.  While the original device had parts that were hand tooled, the intention was that once built, the device would print out many of the parts needed to assemble a new one.  And as intended, that's what happened.  Eventually, others who had built their own RepRap, began printing parts for those who came after.  Aside from the electronics, there's very little that the printer can not print out, although for precision purposes, most of the bolts and nuts are currently metal.

Here is a 60X frame rate video showing a RepRap printing a chess piece:



While it is an amazing machine, as is the concept of being able to 3D print things that you might want or need, one might think that a significant draw back is that it prints in plastic.  While that may be the case in most situations, the RepRap is capable of printing with a preferred, plant based plastic, which is much more environmentally friendly.  And of course, people are looking at designing RepRaps to print with other materials, such as softer metals and clays / powders.  It will all depend on the actual "print head", as the rest of the electronics and mechanics would otherwise be the same.

Here is a news style video on the RepRap:


It is still difficult to produce a final cost of building one's own RepRap, although full DIY kits can be found listed for around $500.  This would be comparative to
fully assembled RepRaps, or similar, assembled, quality and capability 3D printers, for around $1000.

For more information about RepRap, visit their site.

Full instructions on building (what RepRap suggests is) the easiest, introductory RepRap Prusa i3 can be found at the RepRap Prusa instruction page.

Probably the most important part of this article, is to stress that, due to the Open Source nature of this project and its age, there are a large number of resources available to allow for a mostly painless build of a RepRap.  The best way to go is to make the decision to build one, and then jump in and start working on it.  The rest will follow.

RepRap has a direct community forum and also a page with other resources to get further support and information about RepRap.