Earlier we posted a report on Michael Ball’s adventure designing and building a working 3D printer from leftover components. We were contacted by another maker who’s done the same thing.
Fabbaloo reader Fred Sena was able to build a similarly inexpensive 3D printer from old parts. He says:
In my project, the only thing I had to buy was the Arduino board + RAMPS 1.4 + cartridge heater and lately the hot bed, but before I manage to make one by myself. All the rest came from old (2d) printers and acrilyc parts that I had to cut using my (self-made again) CNC mill.
Sena was fortunate to have a CNC mill to create some of the necessary parts, but for most people, such equipment can often be found at your neighborhood makerspace.
What do we learn from this? First, building 3D printers is something many people could attempt – and have no need of purchasing kits to do so. There’s tons of e-waste in the world that holds many of the required components.
Second, at least some of these ventures were inspired by Woelab’s e-waste experiment in Africa.
Innovation comes from everywhere. Even from you.
Via Fred Sena