RepRap: Blog

Sorry for asking a question unrelated to the comment, but there was no "contact us" (obviously) and the reprap wiki didn't answer my question, but it seems to me that the reprap has a much larger print area. What is the maximum size that a reprap can print a model? And if, as I suspect, the reprap can print so much larger models why does it seem like the makerbot is so much more popular?
 

Hey Joe,

Good question, complicated answer. The reprap mendel (our latest version) has 4 times the build area of a makerbot (100x100x100(ish)mm vs. 200x200x140mm on a reprap) which is obviously better. However the makerbot is much much more widely known and sold because it is in fact sold.. Realy there is not really one central way to buy a RepRap it tends to be much harder to get them these days. Check out the forums buy/sell/plasic parts areas if your interested in getting one but keep in mind you may need to source some parts yourself if you can't find them there (nuts, bolts, steppers, bearings.. nothing more complex then mcmaster carr stocks but it can be difficult outside the US or EU). That said RepRaps are awesome and have a lot of cool experimental extruders for tons of different materials (Even thread which embeds in your plastic parts!) made for them that Makerbot can simply not match atm.

Cheers,
Rob
 

PS. closest thing we have to a contact us is a very active IRC community chat room on freenodes #reprap.
 

sorry for asking this question but i couldnt find a contact us link on the main website, so im asking here instead. where can i buy a reprap (or bootstrap/repstrap) machine that only requires assembly (so a kit basicly)?
thanks
jordan
 

@jordan laser cut unassembled kits can be bought at http://www.botmill.com/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=43
It is not a real reprap but it is similar