Missed Kickstarter... Can I get in on the first batch?

[beardface]

Willing to paypal the payment to get in on the first buildout of printrbot+ machines.

Is this an option?

I'm not willing to wait past march for the printer... so would prefer to get in line now.

Thanks!

[plexus]

I don't believe you will be able to get in on the first batch. You'd have to discuss with Brook Dunn the Kickstarter project owner. This is just a users forum.

[JamesFloydKelly]

Brook has stated in a video for Update 16 that no printrbots will be sold until all backers have been sent their Kickstarter rewards. But he did seem to indicate that his store would be up at the end of January 2012 so he could begin taking pre-orders. I know his intent is to start selling printrbots on a regular basis, but I'm not sure if he'll be following the MakerBot format of creating X units and selling them before doing another batch of units. You may need to jump in fast in order to guarantee yourself a printrbot during his first non-Kickstarter production run.

Jim

[knarf2012]

Sooner or later, the printrbot.com store will open for pre-order. If Brook Drumm releases the lasercut printrbot+ files, you can print them with a 2d printer and use that as a template to hand-cut them(by which I mean use power tools).
EDIT:
You can also source the rest of the parts yourself. On the printrbot home page is advertisement for the ball bearing and motor manufacturers Brook is ordering from.

[Wildzbill]

Knarf2012;
I would think that trying to cut that many precise wooden parts without a laser cutter would take you quite a while. Also, the parts fit together quite tightly to prevent wobble, so even being 1/32" off in a few places might cause very poor prints.
Thanks for pointing out the ads on the front page. I am creating a BOM in the Wiki here, and I was looking for his source of motors.

JamesFloydKelly;
I am not sure what Brook has in mind, but I am working with him every day, and I will try to keep him away from batch production. I have been in manufacturing all of my life, and I believe in running a LEAN shop and Just In Time methodologies. That is, if we make an improvement today, we will prove that it works, and ship better product tomorrow.

We are Open Source and Transparent, so all upgrades will be posted, all knowledge transferred to the customers. I am hoping that we will also be crowd-sourced, so that any improvements that ANYONE creates can be incorporated to make better and cheaper machines. We are not looking for huge salaries, fancy houses, etc., we want to feed our families and improve the world.

Oh, and I want to have fun while doing it!

[scantrontb]

[Wildzbill]

We have NO paperwork at this time. Partly because we have a small group, we just talk about any problems.
I hate paperwork, and know of a lot of ways to avoid it.
In a lot of cases, terminology and labeling can increase efficiency. I hate people who say things like "Do you want me to add these ones to those ones?" from across the room. It's much better if they say something like "Do you want me to add the Rev.A Top Widgets to the Rev.B Bottom Widgets on the First Assembly shelf?"
I can answer the second person without even pausing in my work, saving both of us at least 5 minutes. Better yet if they have graphic instructions telling them to do it.

The biggest factor slowing us down is parts delivery. Brook made promises based on $25,000 in sales, not $800,000. There is a lot of difference in buying a few parts from local stores and ordering 10,000 motors from China.
Also, there is more overhead in everything. Instead of just him and his wife working out of a garage, he had to rent a commercial space, hire people and train them. Also, lawyers and accountants become involved.

[knarf2012]