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Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:31 am
by mikegrundvig
Hi all; my local maker group is looking to mill up a handful of sets of plates for a group Hadron build. We are also looking at ordering parts in bulk as well. I have a handful of questions though:

1) Would anyone here be interested in getting in on the group buy for parts? We are buying the various nuts and bolts in bulk and splitting em out - we could add anyone else interested into the order. With enough parts, the SDP stuff can be purchased with a bit of a discount. We'd be selling these for basically what the price/part would be plus enough to cover shipping and handling.
2) Would anyone here be interested in the milled plates? We can make extras and sell em pretty cheap if anyone wants. We will be using a pair of larger CNC mills for the two big plates, and smaller CNC mills for everything else.
3) Is there a problem using .125" aluminum for all the plates? It's convenient if we go consistent on the thickness rather than a mix of .06 and such.
4) If we go .125 for everything, are the screws/bolts that tie into the extrusion long enough everywhere?

Thanks!

-Mike

Re: Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 11:47 am
by Zat German
mikegrundvig wrote:2) Would anyone here be interested in the milled plates? We can make extras and sell em pretty cheap if anyone wants. We will be using a pair of larger CNC mills for the two big plates, and smaller CNC mills for everything else.

I already have a Hadron but I'd be interested in a full set of .125" motor/idler brackets and one extra motor bracket.

4) If we go .125 for everything, are the screws/bolts that tie into the extrusion long enough everywhere?

Probably not. I think the motor plates, for example, would require longer screws.

Re: Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 4:19 pm
by roberlin
I'm definitely interested in the plates and parts. Of course it depends somewhat on the approximate price :-)

Are you planning on providing a nutblock/alternative as part of the group buy?

Re: Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:20 pm
by Boxcar
I would definitely be interested. I already own a Hadron but I would consider owning a 2nd depending on the price. The motor brackets and nutblock alternatives mentioned would be great additions! At the very least I would be happy to buy them.

Unfortunately I can't answer your other questions.

*Edited

Re: Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:22 pm
by swissgnr
I would also be interested in some extra parts. :geek:

Re: Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 6:02 pm
by Randolph
I also have a Hadron and am interested in building another one.
So, yes; I am interested in a full Hadron kit and a set of thicker plates in addition to add to my existing Hadron.
By the way, is this in any way stepping on Bart's toes to do this?

Re: Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:59 pm
by mikegrundvig
Hi all! Thanks for the great feedback. I'm going to see what it looks like the price of parts will be. We might have enough people to just get it water jet or laser cut. I'll put together the nesting stuff tonight and see what the quote looks like and post a per-part price in the next couple of days.

Randolph wrote:By the way, is this in any way stepping on Bart's toes to do this?
I don't think so. I don't see him selling the plates and such directly - just a few companies selling full kits. The full kits are not a bad price, but there are a good bit higher then we were able to price out doing it all ourselves which is why we were interested in going this way. I have a Google Docs spreadsheet I put together that breaks out the entire BOM and parts needed from various suppliers, that's what led us down this road in the first place. Bart: please correct me on this and we will go a different direction. This is a one-time-thing in our plan - we just want to get all of our current members interested in a printer all set up.

Thanks!

-Mike

Re: Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:41 pm
by justingray
Im also interested in getting a set of kit parts. I tried to price things out for setting up a single kit on my own, but I could not get the price much below what the meachanical kits were selling for. I guess you need to make enough to have it be worth while. I like the idea of constant thickness on all the parts. They should be a bit stronger that way.

Re: Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 3:25 pm
by bdring
FYI: Kits are being sold by Automation Technologies.

http://www.automationtechnologiesinc.co ... controller

They should ship in September.

Full Disclosure....Auto..Tech does pay me a small commission and sponsors my web sight.

Re: Group Buy Hadron Build and Some Design Questions

PostPosted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:29 am
by mikegrundvig
Ok, we've gotten some quotes back for our one-time run. The price was very reasonable when laser cut, not so reasonable with water jet. The parts would all be 1/8" 6061-T6 with the extruder carriage modified slightly (made .125" longer) to support a .25" inside radius bend which is necessary for the 6061 to avoid cracking. The parts have a sanded finish but are not anodized. This is a one-time group buy for our organization - we won't be doing this again any time soon.

If you are interested in a full or partial set of plates, please message me directly with what you are looking for. We are looking to order sometime next week after our next club meeting as there are some members who are still deciding. The turn around back to us is 10 days from our order date and we will ship them from here within a day or two of them arriving. Call it 2-3 weeks from next Tuesday to be safe. The exact price is in flux a bit as the quantity is changing but I can say it will be $90 or less for a full set and potentially a good bit less if the quantity keeps climbing. Obviously shipping will be whatever it costs for whenever you happen to live. As we get more people, the price will drop fast so please join in!

-Mike