Erik's Blog: Discussing open source innovation, personal fabrication and a ...

In December last year, I became the proud new owner of Leo (after Leonard Darwin), the son of Charly (Charles Darwin (my earlier machine)). It didn't take 9 months to fully develop, but it seemed like a long time (the second and third sets of parts tooks just a week). I wanted a second machine to be less dependent on my first Darwin, in case it broke. After Leo made a few test objects that were okay, I never really printed with it anymore... why?

Now that I have printed and assembled a third machine (a mini-mendel) and got that working, the benefit of having this second one isn't so big anymore (apart from that it's more prettier and tidier than my first one). I really "know" Charly, my first RepRap much better and has proven to be very reliable having printed hundreds of parts (and counting) in only a couple of years. This makes Leonard a bit lonely, it seems he's mostly idle which is making him depressed, as you can imagine. Also, I can't give him the attention he deserves because I'm writing my MSc thesis on RepRap, talks and travel... so:

It is time for Leonard to see more of the world, and be invited to the homes of other hackers who want 3D printers in their home!

You can have fun with Leo and print yourself a set! Have him send postcards once in a while (not entirely unlike the Dwarf of Amelie's father), or post pictures of his printing experiences on Thingiverse /derivative.

From RepRap Dev

Click on the picture to see more photos.

There is one 'catch', if you use it to print one set, the new owner of this set has to print two of them with their machine (the Mini Mendel also counts, which you can print within a day's worth of printing). You are encouraged to ask for the same adherence to the RepRap etiquette. If you print two sets with Leonard, you're freed from this obligation (there are some time saving to printing everything twice). Let me know who will be the happy owner of the set. At some point I'd like to have Leonard return home. My requirement is that it's not in a worse shape than the previous person to host him. If you're thinking of really big changes to Leo, keep me in the loop.

It includes a full Cartesian bot with a special modification I made to prevent jamming of the Z axis and so you're able to use a continuous loop. It contains the BitsFromBytes control electronics which may need to be replaced with more open electronics (RR motherboard) or someone has to follow in my footsteps working on the OpenRapMan firmware. In other words, you'll have everything to get it running.

The person who will loan my Darwin will have to convince me that he will be taken good care of and that he will be returned within an acceptable amount of time (shouldn't have to take more than 3 months). If I'm not happy with the loaning practices I have to right to retrieve my little baby. We can arrange how we want to share the costs that improved the machine (e.g. if replaced electronics are installed). You can buy some filament from me when you pick up the machine. You need to buy a 12V 5A adapter, if you want to use the BfB electronics. It has a working extruder drive mechanism and extruder, connected with the Bowden cable as documented here. Picture:


I'd like someone to be able to pick it up by car. I live in Tilburg, the Netherlands, so this offer is probably most attractive for people based in the Netherlands or Belgium, perhaps Germany. I want to see you in person before I'm letting you take Leo and I'm not shipping it since it's fully assembled and because of the large dimensions (~50x50x60 cm WxDxH). Also, face to face I can provide some instructions on what parts of the machine may need some attention to get printing quality up. I'm pretty confident that the quality can be even better than my current RepRap because this one is so much more tidy and better studding and more ball-bearings were used.


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If you're interested, please post a comment and tell me why you should be the first to host Leo!