Fab@Home:Support
From Fab @ Home
If you have any questions, please view the following FAQ's or visit the Application Troubleshooting page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy a complete kit, or even a fully assembled machine?
You can order a fully assembled machine from The NextFab Storeor you can order a complete kit from The NextFab Store of Albuquerque, NM, USA. Both companies are willing to ship internationally as well!
Remember, everything in Fab@Home may be freely shared and is open-source under the BSD License.
What is the difference between a "Clear Unit" or "Colored Unit" and "Complete Kit" on the The NextFab Store website?
The "Clear Unit" and the "Colored Unit" are only the acrylic parts, and are not a complete kit of parts for a Model 1. If you purchase either of these, you will still need to order the other components listed in the Model 1 Bill of Materials in order to build a Model 1. At present, obtaining the parts for a Model 1 will cost $2300 if you buy them from the vendors yourself, or a bit more if you order a complete kit from The NextFab Store.
Where can I go to discuss my ideas about Fab@Home or fabbers?
There is a GoogleGroups forum for people interested in Fab@Home which simplifies online discussions - please visit:
How do I join the Fab@Home project or contribute to the Wiki?
- If you have not already done so, make yourself an account:
- Click create account in the upper right hand corner of the page.
- Fill in the information and click "Create Account" or "By Email"
- Please also consider adding yourself to the Guest Book
- If you are building a fabber, please describe it on the Fabbers of the World page.
How do I edit the Fab@Home wiki?
- Make sure you are logged in:
- If you see your username at the top right of the page, you are logged in
- Otherwise click Login at the top right corner of the page
- Click the "edit" tab (at the top) of the page you want to change
- Edit the "wiki text" to make the changes you would like to make
- click "Show Preview" at the bottom of the page to make sure that the results are what you want
- If you are satisfied, click "Save Page" at the bottom of the page
Now everyone can see your contribution!
For more details on editing "wiki text" and contributing, please see:
- Editing Help
- MediaWiki Editing Instructions (offsite)
How much does a Model 1 cost?
Buying all of the parts for a Model 1 currently costs about $2400. Interestingly, the Altair 8800 minicomputer kit, credited with starting the personal computer revolution, cost $400 in 1970, or $2015 in 2005 dollars.
How large is a Fab@Home?
The Model 1 stands at 18.5" (47cm) wide, by 16" (40.6cm) deep, by roughly 18" (45.7cm) tall.
How long does it take to build a Model 1?
Once you have all of your parts and tools in hand, the Model 1 can be put together in an intense weekend of 18-24 work hours by someone with basic hobby skills (e.g. soldering). If you find that it takes you much more or less than this, please contact Evan.
What materials can be used with a Model 1?
The 1-Syringe Tool of a Model 1 is designed to work with almost any kind of liquid or paste that you can imagine dispensing from a syringe. We have tried using household silicone rubber caulk, epoxy, cheese, chocolate (with a small heater attached to the syringe tool), cake frosting, ceramic clay (when mixed with sufficient water), PlayDoh, gypsum plaster. This is merely a list of the materials we have had time to play with - many, many more materials are possible, and it is the intent of Fab@Home to make it easy for you to try your own materials. A good material is soft/fluid enough to push through a syringe, but firm enough that it will "stack up". See the Model 1 User Manual for info on setting up a new material.
How large an object can the Model 1 build?
The build volume of the machine is roughly 8" cubed. The current record for the tallest object is a bit over 4", but that was only limited by patience.
How accurately can the Model 1 build an object?
The accuracy and repeatability depend upon the material you are working with (does it flow?, does it change shape with time?), the time you have spent tuning the deposition parameters, and the the nozzle diameter, as well as on the positioning accuracy and repeatability of the machine. For a "good" material that does not flow, the X-Y (layer plane) resolution is roughly twice the diameter of the nozzle, and the Z (height) resolution is roughly equal to the nozzle diameter. In theory, this holds until you approach the positioning resolution of the machine, which is roughly +/-25 micrometers. The accuracy and repeatability of the positioning system of the Model 1 have not been measured. At a rough guess, without special attention paid to setup, the repeatability will be roughly +/-100 micrometers.
How do I tell the Model 1 what I want to build?
You need to provide the Model 1 with a 3D model of the object you would like to build. You can generate the model using either 3D design software or a 3D scanner. The Fab@Home Model 1 software reads STL (stereolithography) files, which you can export from programs such as SolidWorks, Autodesk Inventor, CosmicBlobs, etc - see the Design Tools page. Alternatively, a 3D scanner, such as David or NextEngine can be used to scan objects to produce a model, which can then be converted into an STL file that Fab@Home can build.
Can I use a Model 1 to build objects as part of my business?
While we would be thrilled to see this happen, and all of the content of this website is free for commercial or hobby uses, the Model 1 will not be able to compete with a commercial RP system in terms of resolution, and the reliability of the Model 1 for long-term use is not yet known. If your business would like to use a Model 1 for producing very detailed parts, very frequently, we would have to recommend that you stick with outsourced RP service such as XPress3D or a commercial RP machine (if you can afford one). Fab@Home is helping to make RP/fabbing technology open-source, so that users can try their own materials, and improve the machine according to their needs, all for far less money than purchasing a commercial machine. If you are interested in helping to make Fab@Home competitive with commercial machines, or want to experiment with multiple-material RP, then please do build a Fab@Home machine.
How does a Model 1 compare to a commercial RP machine?
See " Can I use..." above. Most commercial machines can build larger objects, faster, and with smoother surfaces and finer details. Several commercial machines also can build with materials such as ABS, Nylon, and polycarbonate - tough engineering thermoplastics, although parts must be made entirely of one material, so you cannot have different portions of the same part made of different materials. Commercial machines are 10 to 100 times as expensive as a Fab@Home, the materials are proprietary and expensive, and you typically cannot modify the machines, materals, or software to suit your own needs. The Fab@Home Model 1 allows you to use your own, low-cost materials, and to build objects that contain multiple materials. The Fab@Home Project is trying to popularize rapid prototyping/fabbing technology, to make it open source, and to make it inexpensive, all to get as many people as possible to use and experiment with fabbers. We believe that fabbing will be a revolutionary technology, possibly as important in the future as computers are today, and that introducing the public to fabbers in a way which invites experimentation and improvement is an essential part of realizing this revolutionary potential. Having said that, the Fab@Home Model 1 is targeted at experimentation and hobby use, and is probably not ready for the demands of commercial application. Join the Fab@Home project, and help develop the future Fab@Home models!
Can the Model 1 perform CNC milling?
The Model 1 is not very rigid, since depositing material produces almost no lateral force. To make the Model 1 into a mill would require building the chassis out of something stiffer and stronger than acrylic. If milling is your real interest, then Fab@Home is not your best starting point. Try http://www.cncci.com/resources/links.htm.
If everything is open-source, where is the source code?
A Source Forge project has been set up to facilitate the open-source software development for Fab@Home, since they provide lots of nice tools for management. The project can be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/fabathome. The application source is there, and the firmware and USB driver code will be added as soon as possible. Evan 19:20, 27 January 2007 (EST)
How does Fab@Home differ from RepRap?
There are two main differences. The first is that the RepRap is oriented toward self-replication - trying to make a machine that can make many of its own parts, while Fab@Home is aiming to get as many people as possible to play with/hack/improve fabbers. The second is that RepRap has a screw extrusion deposition tool that is designed for use with polycaprolactone plastic as the intended building material, while Fab@Home uses a syringe tool that allows you to use a wider variety of materials.
The RepRap requires a bit more technical proficiency and quite a bit more in terms of the tools you need. For instance, with RepRap, you need need to build the circuit boards and need metalworking machinery to make some of the parts, while Fab@Home is a snap-and-screw-together kit, with bit of soldering as the most challenging part. Of course the RepRap is cheaper for this same reason.
The two projects have a lot to offer each other - you could easily mount the deposition tool from one onto the other - e.g. polycaprolactone screw extruder on Fab@Home or syringe tool on the RepRap Darwin.
Where can I find a high-resolution photo of Fab@Home?
Several popular photos are available at the bottom of the home page of this website. Many of the other photos on this website are of high-resolution - see especially the Fabbers of the World, and Gallery of Ideas pages. Click on the photo to go to the main page for that photo, where the photo size and a link to the highest resolution version will be displayed.
Where can I learn more about the Model 1?
Please visit the Model 1 Overview page for a more detailed overview of the Model 1.
What does "SFF" mean?
SFF stands for Solid Freeform Fabrication - basically an umbrella term for 3-D printing, Rapid Prototyping, additive manufacturing, etc. - building things by having a machine deposit material under computer control. Some people prefer "Rapid Prototyping", but since we are trying to use it for more than just "prototyping", I kind of prefer "fabrication", and since it isn't really that fast, we usually ditch the "rapid". Maybe "Additive" is better? 3-D printing is actually a trademark of Z-Corp., so I shy away from that as well. See also Wikipedia definition and Castle Island RP/SFF reference site.
Still Have a Question?
If the information provided does not answer your question, please contact Evan Malone.
