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]

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.

I'm sorta familiar with the "lean" methodology from another job i was on, and maybe it was just the individual people involved and not the LEAN system at all, but from what i saw it was very nit-picky, all over some really stupid things... (how to make a PB&J Sandwich the "LEAN way" vs the "old way", for an airline caterer) and the paperwork the sandwich making workers had to fill out JUST for that one single step was insane... all i ask is that you guys STOP with adding more paperwork, etc, etc... when filling out said paperwork takes almost as long as making the bloody PB takes!... yes i understand process inefficiencies can POSSIBLY lead to a less-than-stellar product, but don't go overboard with all the metric-measuring, and paperwork-filing, and let's face it BS-just-to-have-BS-so-the-inspectors-have-a-job kind of stuff, and let Brook and gang just MAKE MORE product, and if they can shave of a significant time/money savings using LEAN, great use it, but if you're just trying to get a whole 30 seconds faster or 2 more cents off the final price... then, in my opinion, it isn't worth the frickin' hassles and should be ignored overall.

We are not looking for huge salaries, fancy houses, etc., we want to feed our families and improve the world.

WHAT!... you mean that people have to WORK to get those things?! Wow, and here it was that i thought that was what the Kickstarter was for...

[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]

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.

That's why a set of plastic parts would be your first print.