printing reprap parts

[Chris.e]

I´m thinking of printing myself a RepRap, the Prusa remix. I'm sure at least some people here how printed some reprap parts so what setting should I use? They look kinda beefy modeled so do I need to print them in solid? or is loose filling enough you think?
Cheers!

[Chris.e]

can anyone open this reprap part in the UP! software? https://github.com/prusajr/PrusaMendel/blob/master/frame-vertex.stl
I doesn't seem to load for me...

[ata0921]

Go to thingiverse.com, Prusa Mendel parts are listed on there and I know they work. I was considering printing out Prusa parts, but it's a little too experimental for me at this point. Once there are some more documentation, I'll hop aboard.

For now, I am just printing out Huxley parts and selling them. Check out jmgiacalone site, eMakerShop.com. He's got it so you can print out a full Huxley in 4 prints. That's about 8 hours total.

As for your preferences setup, they do not have to be entirely solid, I am sure the "Loose" option will do for any of the parts. Only parts you may want to consider going "Solid" with are the gears, you want those to last. Also, try and minimize the raft size and support structures. It'll cut the cost down on ABS.

Other than that, I recommend printing at "Normal" speed as opposed to fast ( a little too fast for my liking, very sloppy looking) and "Fine" ( wayyyyy tooo sloooowww, but much better quality).

[William]

I printed a full set of Prusa Mendel parts.

I used .3mm, loose, normal

I also used these: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4773
For all the vertices. I used the thing ones for the two upper vertices, and the more beefy ones, with legs for the lower ones. Using the hollow vertices saves a lot of ABS, and structurally they seem to be just fine.

I agree on the assembly front. I'm guessing at assembly, looking at what pictures I can scrape together, and trying to figure out how it would work like a Mendel. I'm sure in a few more weeks/months, it will be brain dead simple.

I am also printing the Imperial version, not the standard.

[jmgiacalone]

Hello,

I print reprap huxley parts using 0.4mm, Loose fill, Normal. All stl files obtained from the official reprap
svn repository here http://reprap.svn.sourceforge.net/viewvc/reprap/trunk/huxley/.

LIke ata0921 said, I am printing these in 4 sheets, which takes about 9hrs.

I can make these files available if there is enough interest, although be aware that I use the whole platform, so if you have any warping
issues, you'll struggle to print these.

More details can be found on my site http://www.emakershop.com In fact, if anyone would like to sell through my site, drop me an email, it
might be nice to offer prusa mendel on there.

[ata0921]

What settings are people using so that the UP! doesn't fill the holes for the threaded rods with support material? Maybe it is just me, but it's been a pain to remove those specific ones. I notice that it doesn't happen on all prints either, then again I am using multiple computers and might have different settings for each machine. Even some of the tiniest holes are getting filled with support material. Anyone else having this "issue"?

[William]

There are various tricks I use to reduce the amount of support being applied, depending on the model.
In the case of the Prusa, I orient the model such that the holes that receive the rods are facing vertically. That eliminates having to remove support from those fairly small holes. It does cause support to be used for the larger motor hole, but that's easily removed. This also reduces the surface are on the platform, which reduces the amount of warping.

I reduce the support angle< typically I use 30. If you use lower than that (10) you might get sagging, depending on the part.

I increase the required area for support to 20mm2. that ensures that support will only be used on areas that are large enough to need it.

Sometimes changing the orientation makes a difference as well. I have printed some very small parts that are symmetrical and one side will get support and the other will not. This is probably related to how the Up! software decides these things, and it's more hit and miss.

[-soapy-]

To massively reduce holes being filled in, set the area large, as suggested above. I use the 20mm area setting, and it totally removed all the supports from my main (printed) product, which now requires 5 seconds of post-print, as I peal off the raft.