Its nice to see more people building 3d printers at home.

I have built a RepRap printer, so I would like to clear up just a few statements in this article which are misleading.
1. I built my RepStrap for just under $450, and I believe that that is pretty cheap.
2. The RepRap already uses an Arduino as the CNC interface for the machine.
3. Only one design of a RepStrap requires the CNC Lasercut parts. The whole point of the project is to build a machine that can replicate itself, which it has successfully done in many respects.
4. 3D printing is awesome and I encourage fabr to continue.

Posted at 11:19 am on Jul 13th, 2008 by J Swift

Haven’t looked at a reprap lately. You must mean fab@home. They’ve incremented the electronics on reprap to an arduino shield and separate chopper stepper boards. The software does have the flexibility to work with different hardware than what the “reference design” specs. The latest alternate firmware does G code too. From an earlier post he did, he’s directly approaching the repstrap issue but redesigning it his way. His mechanic kinematics are the same, just different hardware. He’s also doing the exact same thing with software, but basing it off of different tools.

Posted at 12:23 pm on Jul 13th, 2008 by SOI Sentinel

I second soi sentinel’s comments – RepRap doesn’t use any lasercut parts in its standard design, although some alternative cartesian frames that depend on them do exist. You’re probably thinking of Fab@home.

Also, as soi sentinel mentioned, for several months now the RepRap project has had stable arduino firmware that will take g-code from the USB port and drive 3 stepper controller boards as well as the extruder – this sounds like what the fabr guy is trying to develop. The RepRap Research Foundation also provides open-source stepper controller boards that interface with the Arduino, but it will work with any standard controller board. Check out the (cohesive and relatively stable) system at the RepRap gen2 electronics page.

Posted at 4:14 pm on Jul 13th, 2008 by Kyle Corbitt

If you’re interested in following the news on 3D Printing and digital fabrication, you might consider reading our blog at http://fabbaloo.com. We’ve covered Fabr, RepRap and many others (including the expensive ones too!)

Posted at 5:55 pm on Jul 20th, 2008 by General Fabb