All things RepRap is indeed a very wide range of things perhaps so much so that it is often difficult to give anyone a usefully concise answer to the question “What is RepRap”
In a nut shell RepRap is an open research project to make Rapid Prototyping Machinery that can Replicate it self ultimately completely but working towards is aceptable, hence RepRap.
I will say again “RepRap is an open research project” this is something that messes with most newcomers heads. It is not a product, there is no one solution, there never will be one size that fits all. The fittest design of machine or sub part survives to be messed with some more, those that can’t or don’t perform bite the dust. It really is that easy.
Every variant of machine or sub part is welcome (though this may be a little hard to detect sometimes, persevere its worth it). Being an Open Research Project means you don’t need a university education to take part. It’s all in the doing. Whilst there is an over abundance of Techno-Religion, Theory and Opinion, hands on making and practical results are what count.
Within the RepRap Project some designs (Mendel, Mini-Mendel, Darwin etc) have been put forward as complete Open Source designs that work, as templates for people to build their own or to base their own designs on (take and mutate). Spinning off from the project there are commercial enterprises that offer components and in some cases whole kits of parts to build variants that are specific to that commercial producer. This is all very much to the good, lots of horses for lots of different courses.
No participant is an expert in every part of what it takes to make a successful design. Some participants are capable of getting close to contributing something of every part. The majority of participants are good at a smaller number of parts. Even if it is only the worthwhile task of testing designs to destruction (very common).
Everyone borrows the bits they struggle with most from every other member of the group that has done it. Given the complexity involved this makes for a lot of fun group activity with something for everyone who is interested.
Everyone has a particular idea about what is the best/ultimate something and will fight to the death over it, if you can’t agree with them on that, you can agree with them to disagree and move on.
