Re: [rp-ml] Desktop Factory

From: Adrian Bowyer <A.Bowyer_at_bath.ac.uk>
Date: Wed Aug 30 2006 - 17:01:42 EEST

steve wrote:

> Maybe the RepRap project will make the whole matter moot by providing
> the means for people to make their own machines for a couple of hundred
> dollars - maybe a printer manufacturer will see the light and come
> up with something for a few thousand bucks a pop.

...

> That being the case, it may not be necessary for this to be the greatest
> 3D printer in history - it can be a pretty poor machine and still serve
> the purpose of breaking up the log jam.

One thing we have discovered in the RepRap project is that you don't need a
wonderfully accurate production machine to make the parts for a good working RP
machine; all you need to do is to design things rather carefully, to add a few
judiciously-placed screw-adjusters, and to be able to borrow a $30 digital
caliper for a couple of days for calibration.

Indeed, I'd say that - if you can hit about 0.25 mm reasonably reliably (we're
still going for 0.1mm though) - then mechanical strength of the produced parts
is more important than accuracy. Fortunately the polycapralactone that we're
using is as tough as old boots...

Yours

Adrian

http://staff.bath.ac.uk/ensab
http://reprap.org
Received on Wed Aug 30 16:01:13 2006

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