Oct 22, 2015 | By Alec

We always think that homemade RepRap 3D printers are some of the most incredible tools around, because they combine key making elements into a single machine: open source, 3D printing, and low-cost ingenuity. Of course, not all RepRap creations out there are as impressive or as functional as the rest of them, but a particularly incredible machine has just appeared out of the mind of industrial designer Mitch Pricer. Aptly called the MitchRap 3D printer, this machine combines the RepRap values and a majority of 3D printed parts with an impressive accuracy of 6 microns on the XY-axis and down to 50 microns on the Z-axis.

Mitch Pricer is a recent college graduate from the University of Texas, as well as a veteran 3D printer. As he explains to 3ders.org, he specializes in industrial design, and loves to work on a variety of projects involving 3D design, concepts and 3D printing. After gaining about 5,000 hours of 3D printing experience, he felt it was time to take a leap into RepRap freedom. ‘I felt I was ready to try my hand at designing my own printer that I could take with me anywhere. A 3D printer that met what my standards had become for a desktop, or in this case, tray-table sized 3D printer,’ he tells us. ‘My largest overall goal is to help make 3D printing and 3D design readily available in the school system and to the general population, as I truly believe it is the wave of the future.’

And the MitchRap 3D printer he designed is definitely an impressive one. As you can see in the photos above and below, it a very compact and perfect for travelling. ‘It was very purpose built to be a travel friendly printer made of as few metal components as possible. There were no existing printers that met these requirements, so I had to create my own!,’ he says.

This means that the design was largely determined by the size of the print area, which became a 3.5 inch cube. Starting out with a series of cool 2D orthographic sketches, these grew into a 3D model in Onshape. ‘From there I ran through different iterations of how the parts functioned and looked aesthetically. I also knew that I wanted an outstanding majority of the parts to be produced on a 3D printer, which ended up being 95% of all the components on the MitchRap-1. The "hanging gantry" was directly a result of needing a simple way to deal with the printer folding up and still remaining small,’ he explains.

The result is a 3D printer that is not only largely 3D printed itself, but is also incredibly accurate. The XY-axis placement accuracy is down to 6 microns and the Z-axis resolution is an impressive 50 microns. ‘While it doesn't have a heated print bed, it does utilize a special, semi-flexible printed print bed that allows prints to stick at a consistently reliable rate,’ Mitch adds. ‘The printer runs on the Smoothieboard X4 paired with Simplify3D, but could also run on any of the open source slicers' G-Code, such as that from the popular Cura slicer.’ Power comes from a simple hobby style battery eliminating circuit and a lithium-polymer battery. However, it can also run on a standard power supply.

What’s more, all of that is combined into a remarkably compact package. The MitchRap-1, is 292 tall from its highest point, is 148x148mm wide and long. Aside from the 3D printed parts, it also includes Nema 14 "round" stepper motors, GT2 belts on the X and Y axis, and a M6 threaded rod with two captivating nuts to avoid backlash. Impressively, the entire frame is 3D printed as a single piece.

In short, it looks and operates exactly like you hope a RepRap machine does, but sadly often doesn’t. Unfortunately, Mitch isn’t planning to sell kits of the MitchRap, as he just built it to show off his abilities as a starting industrial designer with an eye on the 3D arena. In that respect, he has been very successful. Fortunately, this probably isn’t the last time we’ve seen Mitch, as he is already working on a follow-up machine that is even more consumer friendly. ‘There is already another printer in the works that aims to be the smallest, most accurate, and affordable FFF 3D printer to be created to date,’ he tells us. We can’t wait.

 

 

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Vlad wrote at 10/27/2015 2:25:57 PM:

:) I think the precision claim is defined by micro-stepping alone. Anything belt driven and 50um is incompatible :) If you are college student I can understand; you will grow. Apart from that - good job! And keep it going :)

Julio wrote at 10/26/2015 5:24:09 PM:

Am I wrong, or does the "Y" belt changes length as it moves? In fact the carriage is attached to the length-changing side, making the precision claims very doubtful. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks

Florian. wrote at 10/23/2015 9:56:20 AM:

I was always wondering how do you come up with these numbers? How is a device with that much metal being considered 95% printed? For all the functional elements this 3D printer has metal parts, just like all the other printers out there. X,Y,Z are all relying on plastic for movement. Really from a reprap point of view this printer is the opposite to "almost" ed printed. Just like anything can be called these days "green" and the "greenwash" term was invented, forcing everything to be as close to 100% 3Dprinted as possible does a lot of PR regardless of the reality. I would expect more from the 3D printing community when did we became salesmen trying to impress the web with candy coated half truths?



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