Thanks to you all for your advice,

Thanks to you all for your advice,
I’ve narrowed my list down to the following two kits:
- Bukobot 8 Vanilla kit by Deezmaker
- Mendel90 kit by nop head
They both seem a compact, simple, rigid, design made with quality materials.
Both are similarly priced. Currently, both seem to be on back order.
Both seem like they will be easy to hack and improve as materials and technology develops.
I think either one of these would make a great 3D printer to get started with.

Does anyone know how long the current wait time is for either of these?
Has anyone seen a comparison of the print quality between the two?
Any comments, suggestions or blatant endorsements would be greatly appreciated.

I’m hoping to learn, create, experiment, improve, teach, share, and make a few useful things in the process.

Photo credits go to the respective manufacturers.

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@nop_head Mendel90. Had mine since early february, no regrets. Have managed to put over 4 Kg of filament through it producing good quality, consistent prints. Good tech support [not really needed though as a noobie I needed some].

Another +1 for @nop_head and his mendel90. It took about 2 weeks from the time I ordered to receive my lot, but I think there has been an influx of orders.

I’ve seen both wood and acrylic panels used for the Mendel90… Is acrylic an upgrade? or perhaps the wood ones were prototypes?

Is there anybody out there that has tried the Bukobot?

The current Mendel90 uses Dibond panels. Two aluminium sheets with a core. very stiff and stable.
nophead prefers it to acrylic for a number of reasons and his history in the development of 3d printers is reason to believe them.

@Robert_Wozniak @Whosa_whatsis works for Bukobot and is a frequent shower in these parts. He (admittedly unsuprisingly) raves about them.

I’ve seen videos of Bukobots in action and am generally quite impressed with them, but haven’t gotten to see one first-hand.

@William_Frick Thanks for that Information… I wasn’t aware of that, but since I work at Boeing… Aluminum/Composite is a plus for me

thanks @Miles_Wilford , I’m really hoping that Someone chimes in with some experience with the Bukobot

Woot! Woot!
With all the positive comments on the Mendel90, I went ahead and ordered one today from @nop_head The lead time is only about 2 to 3 weeks, which considering the popularity of this kit, really isn’t that bad. I’ll need to get a PSU though, because it’s currently not included in the USA kit.

That ATX PSU will only be $35 at any computer shop. Had to do the same here in Canada. The mounting bracket is the same though and included in kit.

For that ATX PSU… Do I only need the 12Vs?
Any idea how many amps I’ll need to supply Max?
I could see how maybe the 5V might be useful though for some aux functions, or maybe an RGB LED or two for pizzaz.

Hi Robert,
The machine only uses the 12V rail but has dummy loads for the 5V and 3.3V rails as cheap ATX PSUs don’t work well without them. Some people have used the 5V rail to power a Raspberry Pi.

The machine will take about 16A so a PSU with at least 20A on the 12V rail is advised.

This is what I use for 230V countries: http://www.tekheads.co.uk/product/500Watt-ACE-Black-ATX-PSU-with-12cm-Red-Fan-and-PFC-Retail-Box_41661.html. Note the depth is 140mm. Some ATX PSU are deeper and don’t fit the supplied brackets.

Another popular way to power RepRap machines is with a 200W X-Box PSU. I haven’t tried that yet myself and they are more expensive than an ATX when new.

I picked up a like new Ultra 650W PSU on Ebay. I also got some 20A screw terminal strips from DX to doctor things up a bit. I may need to remake the mounting bracket as the depth is different, like nop head says above

Just got notice that my Mendel 90 is shipping today!!

My ATX power supply worked fine with his brackets. I was surprised at how quickly the kit arrived once shipped from the UK. Have fun assembling it!

Thanks @Mark_Oates As you can imagine, I’m pretty excited about this.

I know, I know… I haven’t even received the kit yet, but I’ve started a blog to document the process.