Prusa Mendel: building the frame

I finished printing all the plastic parts needed to build a Prusa Mendel. Also a box of hardware and motors I ordered from Mixshop arrived so I was able to start assembling.

I decided to print all the plastic parts with 30% infill except the pulleys and gears which I did at 50% infill. I used a 0.28mm layer height, 0 extra shells and 2.88mm ABS filament in Print-O-Matic to print them on my Thing-o-Matic.

I followed Gary Hodgson’s excellent Visual Guide to Prusa on my iPad…made it really easy to see what order the parts needed to be attached and assembled.

I’m still waiting on some PLA bushings I ordered from eBay that are needed before I finish assembling the frame. They should arrive next week sometime.

As you can see from the photos, I opted to go with the army green coloured plastic parts. They printed really well and I think the end result looks pretty cool. I still have to assemble the extruder which I printed in ‘nuclear green’ but I may reprint it in a better matching colour (I can always sell the nuclear green parts).

After much research, I decided to order the necessary electronics for the Prusa from Ultimachine. I’ve placed my order for their pre-assembled RAMPS (RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu Shield board – basically a stack of electronics that runs the Prusa), Kliment’s SD RAMPS (an add-on that lets me print from SD cards without a computer attached), a heated build platform (which almost doubles the print area from my Thing-o-Matic) and a few pounds of PLA (green and blue) so I can print as soon as it’s all assembled.

Cost so far (including shipping and taxes) in case you’re interested in building your own:
Mixshop motors & hardware: $325
Ultimachine electronics & PLA: $364
Total: $689 not including plastic printed parts

Keep in mind I did purchase some higher end and brand new parts. You could easily bring this cost down by getting used motors from ebay, sourcing cheaper electronics (or buy them unassembled to save some money if you can solder).

That’s it for now until some more parts arrive or I assemble the extruder. I’ll leave you with this video that I hope to replicate soon enough when the electronics arrive and I get to test out the stepper motor operation: