A complete1 Mendel for sale? That’s incredible!
There has been a truly amazing progression2 in RepRap parts lately. While I’m not crazy about eBay as a way of selling3 , it’s a very democratic4 way of disseminating RepRap parts. The first few parts and sets of parts were all printed, then molded, now MOLDS are for sale?!
Yes, the Platonic ideal of RepRap is that a machine makes the components of the next machine. But, is it not also part of the RepRap ideal that these machines be disseminated as far and as widely as possible? It’s really great you can use a RepRap to build another – but that doesn’t mean it’s the best/most economical way.
These RepRap mold are advertised to be good for roughly 50 pourings. It is advertised to create 9 vertexes at once, but they all appear to be 1/2 vertexes. The posting also suggests it takes 12 vertexes for a full RepRap. So:
- 12 vertexes per RepRap / 0.5 vertexes halves = 24 vertex halves required
- 24 vertex halves required /9 vertex halves per sheet = 2.67 sheet uses per RepRap
- 50 uses per sheet / 2.67 uses per sheet = 18.75 sets of RepRap vertexes
Admittedly, this is only a set of molds for the frame vertexes, not the entire set of parts. However, it’s really only a matter of time before a set is up for grabs.
This makes me wonder – is there a different market value to printed parts rather than molded parts?