Malthus

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Malthus

Release status: experimental

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Description
A simpler, parametrically-scalable remix of Prusa.
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The Malthus RepRap is a cheap, fast-to-replicate, scalable and simplified Prusa Mendel. It will be available in small (100mm x 100mm x ~50mm) and large (200mm x 200mm x 100mm) varieties although the design can be scaled to any dimension via the machine parameters in config.scad.

Malthus is

  • Scalable (Scaling)
  • faster to print (vs. Prusa)
  • Bigger print volume / total volume (vs. Huxley)
  • cheaper to build (vs. Prusa)

The Malthus RepRap is named after Thomas Robert Malthus in recognition of his ideas on population growth that later served to inspire Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's evolutionary theories.

Note: This machine is still evolving (pun intended) so documentation will be sparse until it is closer to completion.


Features

  • Parametric Scaling - the build_volume = [x,y,z] variable in configuration.scad allows you to build a Mini-Prusa with the build volume of your choice (within reason)
  • Less Printed Parts / Smaller Printed Parts - a reduced vitamin and printed part count compared to the Prusa-Mendel. Crucially the frame vertex pieces were redesigned from the ground up to reduce the print time and combine several parts.
  • Less Screws - Yeah, that's right. We got rid of screws. This might appear slightly insane - but heres why: Metric screws were always a problem to source in North America and no doubt imperial screws would be just as difficult to source in the Metric world. To end this problem once and for all we removed all but 2 screws (extruder mounts) in the Malthus design by replacing them with printed components and zip ties.
  • Larger build volume / total volume - by redesigning the Malthus vertex pieces and x/y carriages the Malthus manages to fit more print volume in a smaller machine - making Malthus more portable and desktop-friendly.

Development

Mechanical design is currently on the Hacklab.to github:

Github Repository

We plan to move this to the RepRap github once it is proven to be capable of 3d printing.

Bill of Materials

Vitamins

Malthus Essential Vitamins

Each Malthus will require the following raw materials, regardless of it's configuration.

  • m8 OR 5/16" Threaded rod
  • m8 OR 5/16" Smooth rod
  • 5x Nema 17 Stepper Motors
  • 3x 1605 Bearings
  • 2x Timing Belts (same as Prusa/Mendel)
  • A packs of zipties

Configurable Vitamins

These vitamins are configurable so you can select the options that best suit your needs.

  • A Mendel-compatible extruder
  • A RepRep electronics kit
  • A DIY build platform or a Makerbot ABP

Printed Parts

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