My first look at RepRap was several years ago, when I briefly considered building a 3D printer which was advertised in the back of our local (South African) Popular Mechanics magazine. I cannot remember but this must have been a Darwin, as I remember the cube shape. At the time the consensus was that it would take many many hours to put together.
This was before I had an ebay account, or US shipping address via ReShip, and way before Arduino, with the net result that I gave up on the idea due to feasibility.
Today, the major blocker is the sometimes exorbitant shipping fees (to South Africa). We also pay Value Added Tax and a customs handling fee on all international parcels. My purchasing decisions for the Morgan build have been strongly influenced by this.
So when the bug bit over the December summer holidays (southern hemisphere, remember), I compared the options. An off-the-shelf printer can be had in SA for ZAR 12 500 (about USD 1150), and a complete Prusa kit around USD 750 (R8 350 at the time of my decision). So that set the bar - if I could come in under USD 750 all told I was in business.
I read about the USD 100 target, but it was immediately obvious that there is no chance of that happening anytime soon. Stepper motors go for ZAR 220 - 250 in SA (USD 20) and I need four. The printed parts cost me USD 65 including shipping, so I was under no impression that I was going to get away very cheaply.
So, to cut a long story short - I purchased some stuff off e-bay (and made some mistakes) and some stuff locally. A summary of the costs is given below, but to date I have spent around USD 500 (and I am close to having everything).
Also, I have at least two friends who might also build Morgans (or want me to build it for them), so I have bought extras in many cases (not factored into my USD500 spend). As I have mentioned earlier in a previous post, I already had an Arduino Mega board.
My mistakes were the stepper motors, I bought 5 x 200 step and 5 x 400 steps motors off ebay, at an attractive price, but had to commit to buying before I saw the shipping, which doubled the price. I ended up paying just USD 2 less per motor than I could have sourced them locally (although I would have needed to ship the local motors as well which would make them slightly more expensive). All told I still came out cheaper but not significantly so.
Item
- Hot-end (J-head), ebay, USD36 + USD4 fee
- RAMPS 1.4 fully populated, locally sourced, ZAR 650 (USD 60) (excl shipping)
- Stepstick drivers, ebay, USD24 (fee still to be paid on arrival, probably USD3 or 4)
- Stepper motors (both flavours), ebay, USD 20 each
- PVC piping, locally sourced, ZAR 23, USD 2
- Printed parts, locally sourced (from Quentin), ZAR 725 (USD 65)
- LM8UU linear bearings, ebay, USD10
- Copper pipe 15mm, locally sourced, ZAR 56 (USD 5)
- Copper pipe 22mm, locally sourced, ZAR 59 (USD 5.50)
- Threaded rod M8, locally sourced, ZAR 15 (USD 1+)
- Timing belt and pulleys, locally sourced, ZAR 300 (USD 27) (including shipping for this and RAMPS)
- Heated bed and universal plate, locally sourced, ZAR 665 (USD 60)
- Bearings, locally sourced, 608z USD 1 each, F608Z USD 4.50 each, 6805z USD 5 each.
- Alpen SDS drill bit, locally sourced, ZAR 167 (USD 15)
- Smooth rod, locally sourced, ZAR 40 (USD 3-50)
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