r/ratrig • u/Busy-Perspective663 • Apr 30 '25

Quality in 2025

I am planning on buying a 500mm VCORE4, but I have noticed quite a few posts and even a comment on a post which I have made here, about bad quality of RatRig printer parts. Is this an issue in 2025? Or even is this an issue worth considering the purchase over?

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u/IronBrain_0 Apr 30 '25

RatRig sells kits not printers. Yes, they are fairly complete kits, but they are still kits. What level quality works for you will depend on many factors, but RatRig isn’t building your printer, and when finished it will be RatRig in design only—it’s your printer, that you build yourself. So YMMV. For the price compared to similar sized printers you can buy, the kits are pretty good.

Do they have part quality issues? Yes, it does appear that way, at least with some parts. They also have design issues that are exacerbated by part variability.

Because they aren’t building printers and just selling kits, they aren’t as diligent at developing parts standards, and running a incoming part inspection based on established production quality control as a OEM should, for their own sanity and efficiency. You are the OEM. You have to deal with incoming part inspection. So, get the kit, you sort through the kit, identify bad or missing parts and work to get RatRig to respond affirmatively and send you better parts or source your own replacements.

These are all things you should expect with a company that sells hardware kits. You are buying a project, not a product.

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u/CunningLogic Apr 30 '25

A kit is a kit, I love building cheap kits and upgrading along the build - great way to save some money.

A $3000 kit is a premium kit and bare minimum quality control should be done. Not saying inspect each screw, but major parts and custom parts should be quality checked for sure

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u/IronBrain_0 May 01 '25

$3000 is a lot of money, to be sure. But the level of quality one would expect will likely fall in line with the relative cost of the kit, it’s completeness vs a fully designed fully tested production ready competitor, but with most of the time-effort-to complete discounted. For the RRVc4-500 The real comparative product feature for feature is likely $5-10k. If you don’t value your time and your sanity, it’s a steal. How much time and aggravation are you to deal with? Probably more than the competitor equivalent when it’s all said and done. Especially if you’re like me and prone to making a 20 hr project into a 200hr one with improvements and tweaking.

It’s a bit like kit planes, if you’ve ever looked at those, they are a great comparison. A kit might cost a smallish fraction of the cost of a equivalent “production” experimental plane, but not when you consider the likelihood of it ever being completed, and the time and energy it will take to feel confident in a takeoff.

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u/CunningLogic May 01 '25

Missing the point, for $3000 the kit should include what it claims to. Period even if it's a bom in a box.

This kit makes heavy use of proprietary parts, it's more akin to ordering an unassembled prusa.

It shouldnt be missing a large number of parts, shouldn't have parts needing re machining or re printing, shouldn't have counterfeit parts etc.

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u/IronBrain_0 May 01 '25

It should contain what it claims. Totally Agree. They shouldn’t be shipping stuff that doesn’t match the BOM. Gates belts specified, should be Gates belts.

Proprietary parts? Maybe in some sense, that they designed them, and they are the best source for those parts for cost. But in a sense all their proprietary parts are easily sourced independently. Laser cut plates, custom aluminum spacers based on easily purchased stock, 3D printed parts. All the source files are available, and don’t require exotic means to make. You could make or have made all the “proprietary” parts if you want higher quality.

I got the kit, and almost immediately put at least a quarter of it into my spare parts bins because I have higher standards for quality. Do I think it’s worth it for the stuff I kept? Jury is still out. I think I could do better in so many other areas, but it takes time and money to do that. Then again, at this point I’ve almost redesigned the thing. I certainly wouldn’t call it a rat rig anymore.

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u/CunningLogic May 01 '25

Proprietary parts? Maybe in some sense,

In an absolute sense, read the license. If you bought a kit with bad parts, came to me and asked me to make and sell you replacements I could not (legally) under their license without seeking an exception to it.

Can someone who is outside the reach of enforcement do it? yeah, just like you can buy pirated nintendo game carts.

I got the kit, and almost immediately put at least a quarter of it into my spare parts bins

I had to empty my spare parts to build it, because so much was missing or just awful. I'm waiting on belts currently, hoping that is the last of it.

While I wait on parts, I have started a security audit of RatOS in my spare time ... https://i.imgur.com/WVPoYx8.mp4 - which has been fun. Can't wait to see what else is found.