RepRap for Science—How to Use, Design, and Troubleshoot the Self-Replicating 3-D Printer

The self-replicating rapid prototyper, or RepRap, is a low-cost open-source 3-D printer capable of fabricating components of scientific equipment with 100-μm resolution in a rapidly expanding list of materials. The RepRap both upgrades and literally maintains itself as it is capable of printing more than half of its own components in thermoplastics such as polylactic acid and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene along with hundreds of predesigned open-source scientific components. In this chapter, the design, use and troubleshooting of the RepRap technology is discussed in the context of creating high-performance customized scientific instruments. The bill of materials and detailed assembly instructions are provided for the MOST variant of the Prusa Mendel RepRap, which can be built by two people in a day for under $600. As the investment in a RepRap is capable of repaying itself after a few hours of printing even common scientific hardware, it is likely to become an indispensable resource for most laboratories as more sophisticated and customized open-source scientific tools are developed.