And while it’s nice to consider an expensive, elegant machine sometimes almost doubling as a work of art in your midst, what’s most important are the results emerging from your 3D printer. Simplicity is key in all facets of life when operating on a budget, and when you are able to get down to business for $199 in 3D printing today, there’s little care for unnecessary dressing up or bells and whistles that you can live without.
If you are backing the campaign as a Super Early Bird, you can get in on the low $199 price, which also includes an early shipping date of November 2016 (shipping costs/VAT not included in the backing price). This is the standard version, which is easily upgraded to the extended model (taking you from 180 x 180 x 180 mm to 180 x 300 x 180 mm), offered as an add-on, along with several really cool printables the company has created as great examples of what this little 3D printer can do. If you miss the Super Early Bird, you can still order the printer at $249, receiving 17% off of the regular price, with shipping commencing in December of this year. Prices ascend from there to offer combo packs, discounted according to how early you order.
And while simplicity may be a focus with the Cetus 3D, in no way will innovators find themselves lacking as they look forward to a user-friendly design that runs nearly silently, including features such as an extruder that offers three nozzle options.
“The print head is designed for easy maintenance, allowing the user to change the nozzle quickly without it heating up,” states the Cetus team on Kickstarter.
“The nozzle modules use a peek cap to prevent any plastic residue from sticking to the nozzle surface. This reduces the amount of fume emissions and increases the longevity of the nozzles.”
The Cetus 3D is both hackable and upgradeable, as well as allowing for the use of a number of alternative materials in addition to PLA. Again, when you consider the price, it’s pretty amazing that you can also even experiment in 3D printing with materials like metal, wood, and flexible filaments—and that’s just a start!
Convenience is not sacrificed either as you can control operations wirelessly, as well as enjoying the iPhone app for both slicing and starting and stopping operations through wifi. The accompanying Cetus software is straightforward yet offers a great deal to the user, including features such as:
- Easy breakaway Smart Support
- Photo to lithopane
- Custom print material
- Compatibility with Windows, Mac, and iOS (with fully supported GCode soon)
- Cloud-based functions
“The software is able to automatically generate support structures to print models with overhanging structures. These supports can be fine-tuned according to user preference. The removal of the raft and support are also very easy,” states the Cetus team.
Check out the video below for an example of how easy it is to go from the digital design process to the 3D printer:
- 3 x Axis module
- 1 x Electronic module
- 1 x Print bed module
- 1 x Extruder module
And as it weighs only seven pounds, you can pack this 3D printer up and carry it from home to the studio to a friend’s house, sharing the accessibility further. As you peruse the Kickstarter page, you’ll quickly see that this is an incredible deal wrapped into a small piece of hardware bearing a small pricetag. And if this is the future of desktop 3D printers, we have a lot to look forward to in terms of features and extreme affordability.
For now and with very little investment, users can look forward to everything they need to get started. This new 3D printer is already off to a great start on Kickstarter (as of the time of publishing, the campaign has already reached $17,000 toward its goal—check it out!) and we look forward to following its progress. Are you backing this campaign? Discuss over in the Cetus 3D Printer forum at 3DPB.com.
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