Originally shared by Robi Lorik Hey I'm new to all this 3d printing stuff

3D Printing
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Originally shared by Robi Lorik

Hey I’m new to all this 3d printing stuff and I am in the process of building a prusa Mendel i2, I have all my plastic parts, all my electronics, mega 2560 ramps 1.4 all my motors and drivers end stops SD card shield. The big thing I am missing are the the threaded rods and the smooth rods. I have been looking for the threaded rods at hardware stores but I don’t really know what I need as far as they go. I could always get them off eBay but the cost an arm and a leg, I’m looking at over 100 dollars for both, I was just looking for some advice on a cheaper way to find the rods, I could cut them if I needed too.

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http://ultimachine.com - I bought 2 sets from there. Already cut to size.

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Maybe have a look at McMaster.com? They sell a lot of hardware, including to some RepRap makers in the USA. But I’m not sure it’s going to be cheaper than kits like the one from Ultimachine.

My Lulzbot AO-100 (a MendelMax derivative with the original Prusa’s build volume) came with 3/8-12 ACME threaded rods. I believe the MendelMax 1.5 is designed for M8 threaded rods.

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Buying a kit is a good way to go for the smooth rods. If you’re in the US and metric is more expensive to source, 5/16" is fine to use for the structural rods, but I don’t recommend that for the Z Leadscrews, as the pitch doesn’t convert to metric nicely.

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Thanks everyone for your help, I appreciate it!

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Hey, did you try Misumi? I got my smooth rods from there at a decent price. They’ll cut to length and machine certain features, too.