We are excited to be able to finally publish first details on our new RepRap design after a full year of development. As we mentioned earlier we went the extra mile and started from scratch instead of modifying an existing design in order to incorporate all features we desired.

This is a true RepRap. An open source 3D printer that can print its own components by Fused Filament Fabrication from materials like ABS plastic. Nearly all additional unprinted parts are either standard parts (steppers, nuts, bolts, washers etc.), flat sheet material that is cut into rectangular pieces and drilled (acrylic and wood for the case, aluminium composite board for bottom of print bed), or extrusions and shafts that are easily cut to length with a chop saw.

For us it is very important to mention that we have incorporated a lot of good ideas from the great diversity of existing RepRaps into our design that we want to highlight as we’ll further document more details over the coming weeks.

By the way all printed parts for this prototype were printed in ABS on our very first, handcrafted RepStrap we built from scratch mid 2011. But now let us show some fotos – for a feature-list and upcoming developments see below:

Features

Specifically aimed at printing ABS with zero warping, low maintenance effort through highly accessible sub assemblies

Rigid frame made of 20x20mm t-slot aluminium extrusion

Fully enclosed by acrylic and wood, doors on the front

A heated chamber capable of 65-70°C recirculating air temperature

Heated PCB print bed

Water cooled hot-ends and extruder steppers to ensure reliable extrusion in high ambient air temperature

Fully parametric design in OpenSCAD

Dual extruders, primarily for use with different nozzle diameters for perimeters/infill to save printing time on big objects (we are testing with 0.35mm for perimeters and 0.75mm for infill at the moment)

3mm filament diameter

Compact, rigid parts with integrated mounting points for endstops and such

Activated-carbon air filter to remove unpleasant smell of molten plastic

Cable management

Semi-automatic print bed levelling makes calibrating the machine a matter of seconds

Z-leadscrew bearing supported on both ends, sugru spider coupling for absolutely wobble-free operation

12mm precision ground shafts with LM12UU linear ball bearings on all axes (will be replaced by Igus RJMP, see below)

Tool-free belt tensioning with built-in thumbwheels

Direct-drive extruders with high torque geared stepper motors

Permanent printbed material (FR4) – no Kapton or PET tape needed

Adjustable nozzle height to align both extruders on the same level

200x200x200mm build volume

Custom designed, precision extruder drive gears to provide enough grip on the filament in a heated enviroment

Integrated LED lighting

Hotends from reprap-fab.org with 40W each for short heat up time

Electronics

RAMPS 1.4 controller board – we will give the R.U.M.B.A. a try as soon as it is delivered.

Modular additional MOSFET driver boards for lights and fans

Brand new high power 15A MOSFET driver boards (still in development by carbonfrog) for chamber heaters, total power >550W

ATX power supply 1000W

Water cooling based on a EHEIM/Innovatec PCPS1104 water pump

Upcoming development