The First 3D Fast Printer: NX1 Just Launched on Kickstarter–Speed, Aesthetics, Performance

As the 3D printing marketplace heats up, one can find any choice of machines to fabricate any number of designs with. Features abound, prices vary–and promises are many. And while this technology is offering a way for many inventors to create things that would not have been possible previously, for most of us the needs are fairly basic, and despite all the new bells and whistles, we have a focus on two things: price and speed.

With competition in the industry careening off the hook, prices have come down considerably–but that doesn’t mean it’s not still a kick in the wallet at most any price point. From smaller startups to the technology titans, most preach accessibility over profit. Speed has also been a huge factor, as anyone knows–from jokes on mainstream TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy (“Look! I slept in the lab all night watching this amazing plastic spork print!”) to one diatribe after another on how ridiculous it is to wait hours for a tiny figurine. Because makers are generally behind designing the innovative tools we see in the 3D printing industry, and there are plenty of inventions in the works, you can bet most of these issues are being handled quite expediently.

The NX1 tank is built as an unique body with the linear bearings of the four arms. This ensures a perfect alignment between build platform, tank and light source.

That is evidenced fully in the latest Kickstarter campaign featuring a new 3D printer, the NX1, by NEXA3D. With claims that it operates a whopping 40 times faster than the popular FormLabs’ Form 2, taking printing from ‘hours to minutes,’ consumers may also be quite compelled to purchase the NX1 as it costs considerably less.

Early birds ordering from Kickstarter can purchase the NX1 for around $1,488 USD, or €1,399. The campaign ends on December 22^nd, and the NEXA3D team hopes to reach funding of just over $170K for production of ‘the first 3D fast printer–for all.’

NEXA3D, headquartered in both Italy and the UK, has also put their stamp on this new desktop printer with their Self-Lubricant Sublayer Photocuring (LSPc) technology which works by allowing light to solidify the 3D model.

“While everybody else was thinking about how to keep users happy as they waited hours and hours for their 3D objects to print, we focused on simply eliminating the wait times in the first place,” states the NEXA3D team on Kickstarter. “Extreme speed, desktop design, high precision and smart features, make the NX1 different from any other 3D printer.”

Boasting not only exponentially faster performance and affordability, users can say goodbye to the mess and inconvenience of complicated resin refill processes. The NX1 uses an innovative cartridge system which NEXA3D says is hassle free, clean, and safe, and works as so:

• Insert the cartridge and print your object.
• The NX1 fills the tank automatically, balancing the resin during the printing.
• On completion, NX1 recaptures and reuses any remaining resin in its tank, making it ready for the next print job without wasting a drop of resin.

And guess what else, folks? It’s pretty too. With an elegant, unibody design, users can look forward to a machine ‘engineered for extreme performance,’ fabricating 3D models one inch in height in about 3 minutes. With a motor situated in ‘the heart of the machine,’ the NX1 works by imparting a central thrust to the build platform with four mechanical arms that help to eliminate stress, offering accuracy and resolution. The build platform uses a magnetic system to anchor to the printer.

“The NX1 tank is built as a unique body with the linear bearings of the four arms,” states the team on Kickstarter. “This ensures a perfect alignment between build platform, tank and light source.”

Completely stand alone, the NX1 can be controlled from any device whether operating remotely, through WiFi, or Ethernet. NEXA3D has been working on this printer in research and development for the past two years and it is meant to be user-friendly in every context. Their team is hoping to reach the Kickstarter goal so that they can begin production, market their resins, and finish designing the software.

Will you be backing this project on Kickstarter?  Let us know in the NX1 3D Printer forum thread on 3DPB.com.