Talk:RepRap Buyers' Guide

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Revision as of 15:18, 9 January 2014 by 3dfactory (talk | contribs) (How to get included into the RepRap Buyers' Guide)
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Remember guys, neutral voice, this is a wiki, not a Flea Market. -Neil/Spacexula

How to get included into the RepRap Buyers' Guide

It's simple: please add your entry here in a new line. Take care to set to set your country right and also to put checkmarks (only) where they fit. Admins watch this talk page and will take the entry over to the main page after a review.

In case you aren't allowed to add external links (you'll notice that), put a space between the slashes of the link, like http:/ /example.com . The Admin will fix them when moving the entry over to the main page.

Vendor Loc.
 Full Printer Kits
 Printed Parts Kits
 Electronics Kits
 Extruder/Hotends
Developers of ... Reviews and notes
Example Shop AQ <your genuine development(s), if any, here>
CN
3D Maker World US Artifex
3dfactory US

various pages that list sellers

There seem to be a bunch of wiki pages that list places where people can buy stuff related to building a RepRap (raw materials and "vitamins") or a RepStrap.

Should we merge some of these pages together? Or put an explanation on one of these pages that lists all the pages why each one exists? --DavidCary 03:07, 11 April 2010 (UTC)

Hey guys! a bunch of useful information disappearred just now. Specifically, McMaster Carr entry had links to two specific steel rods. They were the cheapest in my area and they delivered them the same day. Are these not suitable anymore? --user: Prof_Braino Sept 17

Please add Metamáquina 3D as a brazillian supplier of RepRap kits and fully assembled printers.

Please add Metamáquina 3D as a brazillian supplier of RepRap kits and fully assembled printers.

Please add an entry to the list above. It'll be reviewed and then moved to the actual page. Virtlink 15:21, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Hi ! Two companies I see missing :

Thanks ! --Arthurwolf 11:54, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Please add the entries to the list above. They'll be reviewed and then moved to the actual page. Virtlink 15:21, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
Added them to the list, please tell me if anything needs correcting. --Arthurwolf 15:28, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
Thanks for the contribution. Moved both entries, except for the link to smoothieware.org. The Trinitylabs shop comes up with zero search results for this name. IpsoFactio has the board as the only product, but no hints on who runs the shop. smoothieware.org has no obvious links to a shop. To sum up: Which is your shop, ArthurWolf? --Traumflug 19:32, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
None of those shops are "my shop". Trinitylabs is out of stock of smoothieboards atm, but they will have more soon. Ipsofactio is an offshoot from the local fablab. Both support Smoothie development. http://smoothieware.org/smoothieboard has a big red link to http://smoothieware.org/getting-smoothieboard , which lists both shops. Not sure why you took the link to smoothieware away ... --Arthurwolf 19:38, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
I took the link away because this column is meant to list developers, not shop contents. Quite some RepRap developments are not listed there, because their developers don't run a shop. Prominent example: the Prusa Mendels. --Traumflug 19:59, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
I just did the schematic, Trinitylabs hired someone to do the smoothieboard pcb layout, paid for prototypes, tested them and handled the beta batch of boards and support for it. I think that qualifies them as developing it. Not sure you specifically, handling anything related to smoothieboard on this forum, is such a great idea. Maybe you could pass the matter along to another admin ? Thanks for publishing what you have. --Arthurwolf 20:06, 14 June 2013 (UTC)
Just to add to this ( after Traumflug added the section bellow about support ), I think what he's saying is relevant is lots of cases ( like for people paying a fee for Gen7 ), but here they did the actual development themseves. At least the current version of Smoothieboard ( it might be different for future revisons ) was created in big part in-house in Trinitylabs, by Trinitylabs employees. It's not about fees/financial contribution, it's about actual contribution to the project, with actual work. I think that qualifies them as developing it. --Arthurwolf 20:23, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Another admin, please chime in. Thanks. --Traumflug 20:19, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Please adjust entry for EckerTech

Please adjust entry for EckerTech. We provide full kits and we also developed the EckerTech all metal hot end with active cooling in 2009 and the EckerTech hobbed bolt in 2009. Thanks!

Added the full kits checkmark. Does this hotend have a name and a wiki page? Can't write "some all metal hotend", after all :-) --Traumflug 16:42, 4 July 2013 (UTC)

How to support developers even better

Following the discussion about TrinityLabs above, I'd appreciate a discussion on how to support RepRap developers even better. The "Developer of..." column is new in this revision of the guide and meant to distinguish shops just copying openly available developments (I tend to call then "copy shops") from those who also do active development for the RepRap community. Now User:ArthurWolf has brought up shops which don't do their own development, but "support" development. I guess, "support" means something like paying a fee per product sold or ordering shop supplies not at a manufacturer, but from the developer.

As shops supporting development are undoubtly more valueable for the community, maybe even essential for the community to survive as an independent one, how can we get this into the picture? What's the measurement to avoid checkmark hunters (like e.g. donating $0.10 per product sold, just to get the check mark) versus highlighting noticeable support? Can we perhaps call out one of the support strategies to be a recommended standard for RepRap shops?

--Traumflug 20:18, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

P.S.: After writing this ArthurWolf explained the situation: TrinityLabs is actually one of several of the SmoothieBoard developers (so far I considered him to be the only one), but he also asked to forward this to another admin, so I keep my hands still. Nevertheless I think the general scope of the topic here deserves a discussion. --Traumflug 20:41, 14 June 2013 (UTC)

Perhaps as a first step in this direction, each row could name the developer(s) who designed the products they are selling? For example, if a shop sold the original, unmodified Darwin, that row would credit Adrian Bowyer. More recent machines would typically credit at least 3 people (the mechanical structure designer, the electronics designer, and the software programmer) and previous designers whose work they built on. --DavidCary 17:57, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Might become tricky, because shops not selling their own developments tend to sell many different designs. Regarding electronics and firmware I'd be very happy to see this recognized as separate itmes. You can drive a Mendel with about any electronics and many firmwares; the smae is true for about any printer design. Printer designs should just list the required features of the controlling electronics instead of prefering a specific one. --Traumflug 10:47, 26 August 2013 (UTC)

Incorrect Information

Looking to buy a full kit, I'm looking through the list and have found that some of these sites that are listed as selling full kits only sell partial kits or do not sell kits at all. The vendors with issues (I only looked through the US vendors) are:

  • www.easyreprap.com - Does not sell kits with plastics.
  • makergeeks.com - Only sells the printed parts for the RepRap.
  • norcalreprap.com - Sells a kit, but it does not include glass table
  • printrbot.com - Only sells Printrbot (Which is technically RepRap, but not helpful to me)
  • shop.seemecnc.com - Sells Rostock Kit (Which is technically RepRap, but not helpful to me)
  • www.terabyts.com - No Printer Kits, only the plastics

Alanbly (talk) 23:05, 6 October 2013 (PDT)

Alanbly, thanks for the research. Fixed Easy RepRap, Maker Geeks and Tery Byts. Left Norcal, PrintrBot and SeemeCNC, because a single, non-essential, missing piece (they tell you right at the top of their shop page) and a personal preference against a design isn't sufficient to justify a change. --Traumflug (talk) 05:04, 7 October 2013 (PDT)

He3D

On the supplier list, the original domain name of He3D "he3dprinter.com" change into "reprap.cn" Thank you very much!