It takes one, to make one

In RepRap, the "Rep" stands for Replicating. Kind of obvious for those acquainted with Dr Bowyer's pioneering work and its derivatives. For all the others: enjoy reading the hundreds if not thousands of pages here if you want to get to know "all there is to know about Reprapping, but were afraid to ask".

In short, it means it takes a 3D printer to make (part of) a 3D printer.

As I set out on a journey to design and build a Delta style 3D printer, and as I don't have a 3D printer right now, I will have to start by building one in order to make my own design come to life (kind of chicken and egg story).

Here are my options: buying a 3D printer; buying a kit (most if not all of them Darwin or Mendel based); Repstrapping a printer or buying all the parts required to build a 3D printer of my liking.

Let's go over my options and see what comes out .

1. Buying a 3D printer: just too easy and I would not learn anything about 3D printing and the obstacles it takes.
2. Buying a kit: all kits available - that I am aware of (please send me a message in case I missed something) - are either Darwin or Mendel based. As I intend to go for a delta type printer and not for a carthesian one, I would not learn anything in the process if I would use a carthesian type of 3D printer.
3. Repstrapping means building any kind of 3D printer - whether it be Carthesien or delta type - requires having parts laying around that one can use. As I am more of a theoretical kind of guy, I don't have that many stuff lying around in my shed to get me even started repstrapping a 3D printer; which brings me to option Nr 4.
4. Building a 3D printer of my liking. As I plan to design and build a delta type 3D printer (also know as a Rostock in the RepRap community and still in prototype phase), I decided to start by building a standard Rostock as Johann initially designed it and use that Rostock to print the parts I need to build my own type of delta type 3D printer. I just might learn a thing or two, ... or more, in the process; or at least I hope so.

So as we speak, I am completing my BOM (Bill of Material) based on the Johann's partial BOM, some information I found on the net and on some ... guessing.

Check future posts for the rest of my journey and (hopefully a complete Rostock BOM).