Rep Lab: The Open Source Fab Lab

I have been fascinated by the idea of the self-replicating 3D printer ever since I discovered RepRap, and I have applauded all the work that is being done to redesign RepRap printers so that more and more parts can be printed.

But, listening to whispers, I get the feeling that 3D printer kits that have big slab sides (MakerBot, Ultimaker, Orca V3) are more stable, and capable of faster printing speeds and high degrees of accuracy.  But you can’t 3D print slab sides.  You need to laser cut them, and that confounds the philosophy of self-replication.

So I have been playing with the idea of the “Self-Replicating Workshop”.  Let’s print some plastic parts for the laser cutter that we build for ourselves, and laser cut some slab sides for our 3D printer.  Why not?  Just extend the philosophy of self-replication.

And there’s another thing.  I love the idea of Fab Labs, Makerspaces and Hackerspaces, and I especially like the communal feeling as people get together to engage less in DIY and more in DIT (Do It Together).  Except that they mostly don’t make their own machines!

Look at these “equipment pages” from a number of groups:

Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to be able to get my hands on this stuff, but they had to raise SERIOUS money to buy it, and there are open source designs for most of these machines on-line, and a great sense of community achievement and community ownership, by making them by Do It Together.  Well, if DIT is a good enough concept to attract the attention of the Harvard Business Review, then it’s good enough for me!
So consider how excited I was this morning to stumble on the Rep Lab.  The idea is already abroad!  As one of the prime thinkers is Erik de Bruijn, and as Erik is also a key member of the Ultimaker team, and as I expect to be at the Utrecht Fab Lab next Tuesday, I just now have to see if I can find an e-mail address for Erik, to see if we can meet!
So I just hope that the Fab Labs (Rep Labs) I’m hoping to see happen in the south of England can make some if not all of these machines themselves.

2 thoughts on “Rep Lab: The Open Source Fab Lab”

  1. Hi James,

    Thanks for contacting me. Your mentioning is flattering. I think good ideas seldomly come from just one person. It makes sense to look at goals like replicability from a broader context of the workshop, not just of one device.

    You may have already seen the Open Source Laser cutter which to some extent consists of 3D printed parts?

    http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11653
    http://builders.reprap.org/2011/05/boot-strappable-open-laser-cutter.html

    You can also help make this happen by sponsoring Open Source Ecology, or if you want to be more active, to get yourself a 3D printer (be it self-replicating, or one with the ability to make self-replicating machines or laser-cutters). Bootstrapping a laser cutter is a really nice way to get more value out of your 3D printer than its initial cost. Plus, you will have both machines at your disposal. A powerful combination!

    Cheers,
    Erik

    Reply ↓

  2. I’m hoping to have my first 3D printer kit in a couple of weeks; I’ll let you know when we meet in Utrecht.

    I had seen references to the OS cutter, but hadn’t seen it on Thingiverse: cool.

    I have had a quick look at http://opensourceecology.org/index.php: will check more when I get back from Holland; mid-October.

    Looking forward to meeting you.

    Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>