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  • Author Author: e14 Contributor
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can someone help by makeing me a 3D printer

I have wanted to get a maker bot 3D printer but I dont want to spend 4, 000 doallers on one I just need it to be able to print in any kind of plaices and that the 3D printer can use more then one color when its printing. This well be a big help for a military family. if someone can build one that I can road test thanks

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  • Bre Pettis was the man behind the early MakerBot designs (Cupcake, etc) which all used the same basic control electronics from early Cartesian-style RepRap printers like this Prusa i3:

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    Makerbot has since been purchased by 3D Systems, the inventors of the original fused filament fabrication (FFF) printing patents (now expired), and 3D Systems has made the new MakerBots very proprietary unlike their predecessors. Today, to use a MakerBot requires that you also buy your filament feed-stock from MakerBot in a cartridge that is not refillable, but which counts the turns of filament that runs through the cartridge and shuts off after the programmed limit. You cannot use 3d Party or generic filament in a MakerBot anymore (costing almost half-again what generic filament runs - generic ABS is about $30 USD, while MakerBot's filament costs around $45-50 USD per cartridge now). Makerbot's color selection is expanding but you can find many other colors (glow in the dark, even) and materials like Nylon, even wood hybrid plastic that can be sanded and painted after fabrication. Nylon can be dyed using common clothing dyes to achieve colors fitting your project, so it is very nice to be able to use whatever you find instead of just the MakerBot-branded cartridges (Cubify is another Cartridge-style printer with similar limitations).

     

    No current sub-$10K USD consumer 3D Printer will operate without regular maintenance, so you might as well build one of your own. Some great kits are available, like the MendelMax and Rostock Max, but you can self-source most items and build one for yourself around $300-500 USD. Take a look at the RepRap variations (www.reprap.org) which were designed originally by Adrian Bowyer at the University of Bath, and which can be modified to print solid objects using thermoplastics as well as food and chocolate as well. My co-author for the book "3D Printing for Dummies" is Richard Horne (@RichRap), who designed the Universal Paste Extruder for use in RepRap variations, and he has also developed the RepRap 3DR Delta-style printer, with some great step-by-step information for building your own on his blog: Reprap development and further adventures in DIY 3D printing

     

    The community of support in the open-source RepRap design is amazing, so take a look there before you give up and just buy an off-the-shelf system you will still have to maintain anyway. I hope this helps.

  • in reply to e14 Contributor

    I am looking for someone that can make a road test that I can test then send to a military family. That would be a big help thanks

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