Wednesday, October 17, 2012

BOM Finished; Sourcing Finished; Ready to order

A quick update. I just finished the 'standard' aka 'Johann's' Rostock 3D printer BOM and I believe I located the cheapest (small volume) suppliers around (all but two, European to save on shipping costs).

This means it is now time to start ordering all the parts for my "Generation 1" 3D Printer. I consider the first one as a 'Generation 1' because once it is build and performing well, it will just serve to print the parts of my own Rostock derivative I have in mind (Gen 2, etc).

As parts come in, it will be quiet on this blog, unless something goes wrong that's worthwhile sharing.

Keep checking in for the build process.



Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Rostock Build: Status Update

As I mentioned before, it takes one to make one. So, the first thing to do is build one.

As I intend to develop an iteration on the Rostock type 3D printer, I decided to start by building one just to 1) have a printer to print the parts I will need in the future to develop my own iteration and 2) to get some experience along the way.

As of now I am finalizing the sourcing process for my initial Bill of Materials (BOM) and am just waiting for some shipping cost information.

I decided to build kind of a mix of Johann's Rostock (the original Delta Type 3D Printer) and Bill's variation of it (neither published a complete BOM; so there is some 'guestimating' involved.

Once I get the last information on shipping costs (I am sourcing all over the planet; so watching shipping costs is quite important), I will start ordering the parts and keep you guys and girls posted on the progress. So check in regularly for some news on the Rostock/Bill and spread the news.

Monday, October 1, 2012

Nice example of the real future of 3D printing

It seems 3D printing is evolving from "nice thingies for geeks(*)" to real usefull objects.

(*) As I am kind of a geek myself, I hope you don't blame me for using this phrasing.

This seems a very good example of what I mean: Printable Headphones by jmabry http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:31392