The High-Resolution Bean 3D Printer From Kudo3D is Taking Off on Kickstarter

There are plenty of successful Kickstarter campaigns, but then there are those that are so successful that you have to blink a few times to make sure you’re actually seeing what you think you’re seeing. Such is the case with the Bean 3D printer from Kudo3D, which hit its funding goal of $50,000 in a mere two minutes. Within three minutes, it had hit $100,000.

How does a company accomplish such a startling achievement? First of all, let’s take a look at the Bean 3D printer itself. The SLA printer’s bright green color isn’t just for aesthetic appeal; it’s meant to symbolize the eco-friendliness of the machine, which relies on LED lights as a light source, allowing for less energy consumption and a longer lifetime. It also uses Kudo3D’s patented, ultra-precise Passive Self-Peeling (PSP) technology, which was first introduced in 2014 with the Titan 1.

Speaking of the Titan 1, its Kickstarter campaign, Kudo3D’s first, was also wildly successful, bringing in more than $687,000. At the time, affordable SLA 3D printers were almost unheard of, and the Titan 1 started at under $2,000. The Bean, meanwhile, is mere pennies in comparison: Kickstarter backers can get the 3D printer for as little as $399. Despite the low cost, however, the printer is a high-precision machine, with an XY resolution of 50 microns and a Z resolution of up to 10 microns.

The Bean is an easy to use, plug and play 3D printer, pre-calibrated with a spring-loaded, self-leveling build platform. It can be controlled and monitored remotely using mobile devices, and features a high resolution LCD panel. It’s a compact printer, too, and lightweight, weighing only 15 pounds, making it an easy fit for the desktop. A few specifications include:

• Dimensions: 8″ x 8″ x 16″
• Weight: 15 lbs
• Build area: 2.7″ x 4.7″ x 5.9″
• Print speed: 1 to 2 cm per hour (at 50 microns resolution)
• Power consumption: 50W on average

The Bean Kickstarter campaign comes only a year after the release of the Titan 2, Kudo3D’s follow-up to the Titan 1. The Titan 2 HR, an even higher-resolution version, brought the company’s total number of 3D printers to three before the Bean. In addition to printers, Kudo3D offers several resins, with formulations targeted towards specific applications such as engineering, investment casting, and more. The Bean itself has four resin colors: green, gray, black and yellow, and Kudo3D is currently developing a castable resin that will be released before shipping.

Shipping is estimated to begin in January of 2018 for early birds. Early bird rewards have all been grabbed up at this point, but backers can still get the Bean for as little as $399, with the reward package including the printer itself, a resin container, one bottle of resin, a build platform and a starter kit. MSRP is $1200, so it’s quite a discount. $499 will get you the deluxe package, which comes with two bottles of resin and resin containers, plus a post curing LED lamp and a Wi-Fi repeater. $759 will get you two of everything.

The resin container is new and improved, too:

“The resin container is a modified version of the PSP (passive self-peeling) resin container on Titan 2 DLP-SLA printer,” the company states. “Similar to the original PSP, this new version is called the PSP-D. Only Teflon film needs to be replaced. The lifetime of the film depends on the size of the printed model. In general, it should last 20 to 50 prints. The peeling starts from one side of the container to reduce the separation force. As a result, the printing is more reliable, the details are preserved and larger models can be printed.”

At this time, the Bean Kickstarter has reached well over $300,000, and there are still 43 days left to go in the campaign. You can check out the campaign here, and take a look at the Kickstarter video below:

Discuss in the Bean 3D Printer forum at 3DPB.com.