Build a 3D Printer

Intro

3D Printing is a manufacturing method in which a "printer" type machine is used to create objects.  Printers can get really fancy and expensive printing things like ceramics, metals and plastics. As a hobbyist I'll be focusing on Fused Deposition Modeling or FDM. This method pushes melted plastic out of a small nozzle and creates plastic objects layer by layer.

This page is just for me to store stuff about 3D printing. Honestly, most of my useful pages are stored in bookmarks on my browser, but the exceptional stuff I'll post here for others to reference.

Printers I Evaluated

• Prusa i3
• Rostock Mini Pro
• RichRap 3DR
• Kossel Mini
• DeltaPrintr
• PrintrBot Simple

What I Bought

I ended up buying a Rostock Mini Pro kit from 3DPrinterCzar. Happy Early Birthday!!! I could have sourced all the parts myself, but I want to spend time building and tinkering, not sourcing and purchasing. I also didn't document the build process, because many others have already done that (e.g. deltarap.org).

Things I Want to Print

• Cell phone grip for playing games
• Cell phone mount for game controller
• Toy gears for the kids (and me)
• Legos
• Construx
• Action Figures drawn by Lewis
• Hobby Boxes
• RPG Figures
• Modular Storage (jewelry, tackle, hardware, electronics, etc.)
• Headphone Stand
• Custom Sun Glasses
• Disposable Tweezers
• Car Rack Mounts (to carry wood for example)
• Parts for rubber-band guns.

Heated Bed

 The Rostock that I ordered does not come with a heated bed that would be required to print using ABS or nylon and other various materials. I perused various options for buying or building a heated bed. I'm going to either buy or make a round kapton tape heater. In the theme of DIY, reprap, etc I liked this post on using resistive wire. I think it might be cheaper to use an aluminum clad heater, but this one is easier for me to do. If I do it this way then I'll use thinner gauge resistance wire, but print a template for laying the wire. I'll put kapton tape over the template and lay the wire into the template grooves so it sticks to the tape. Then peel the template off and press the tape onto the bottom of the print table. It's all theoretical, of course, but I think I'll give it a try.

 Useful Links

• Jérémie FRANCOIS's 3D Printing Blog - He's got some good articles on printer settings, materials, improvements, etc.
•  RepRap.org
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