3D Printing Remains Popular on Kickstarter: Quickly-Funded Obsidian 3D Printer, Eco-Friendly adorn3d 3D Printed Jewelry

It seems like these days, just about everyone is turning to crowdfunding campaigns on sites like Kickstarter to get their 3D printing-related products off the ground, whether it’s 3D printable gaming miniatures, a small smart button, custom 3D printed sandals, multifunctional robot arms, or just about any type of 3D printer you can imagine, from SLA printers with high resolution and a printer made with artists in mind to a 3D printer that also does laser engraving and CNC machining and conveyor belt 3D printers like the BlackBelt, which reached its initial funding goal in just 15 minutes. But if you think raising €50,000 in that amount of time is impressive, wait until you hear about a 3D printer Kickstarter campaign that raised nearly twice that amount in less than five minutes.

In 2016, California startup Kodama, Inc. launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for the Trinus, a professional 3D printer/laser engraver hybrid that reached its initial funding goal in less than an hour. Late last month, the company began a crowdfunding campaign for its latest 3D printer, the user-friendly FDM Obsidian.

Kodama’s campaign for the Obsidian, a stylish and compact QuadRap style 3D printer, reached its $100,000 goal in just three minutes and kept going, hitting $500,000 in three days. Now, with just nine days left in the Obsidian’s campaign, that total has surpassed $1 million. So, what’s so special about the Obsidian?

First of all, the plug-and-play Obsidian is extremely affordable – it starts at just $99, with optional upgrades for a heated bed ($40) and a spool of PolyPlus material ($25). The Deluxe model has an Android and iOS app for remote control and monitoring, and both the Plus and Deluxe versions of the Obsidian feature a smart LCD touchscreen and power outage recovery; in addition, the printer runs on non-proprietary firmware.

The campaign states, emphasis theirs, “We felt there was too much of a gap between cheap, unsightly printers that are complicated to assemble and use, and overpriced 3D printers. We knew there had to be a better way to make 3D printing accessible to everyone. We want everyone in the world with an idea in their head to be able to hold it in their hand.”

The printer’s optional heated bed allows for printing with materials like PETG and polycarbonate, and Kodama is currently working with a factory in Germany to produce tungsten nozzles as a future add-on. Thanks to the Obsidian’s custom extruder head, with a dual fan set that ensures consistent extrusion, the team says you can expect consistent high-quality 3D printing. Also, the printer’s PTFE tube and nozzle are connected, so nozzles can be easily changed by loosening a single screw. The 5.5 kg Obsidian has a NEMA 17 stepper motor, a print volume of 120 x 120 x 120 mm, and a print speed of 60 mm per second.

The Obsidian 3D printer campaign ends in a little over a week, so get one now while you still can!

While there are plenty of 3D printers available on Kickstarter, there are also all sorts of campaigns for 3D printed products, like this eco-friendly, 3D printed living jewelry and décor from adorn3d, headquartered in Brooklyn, New York and co-founded by artists Adriana Dumitras and Nathan Backman. adorn3d’s Kickstarter campaign for the industry’s first 100% independently 3D printed living jewelry and décor went live yesterday morning. The company uses biodegradable, renewable materials, and does all of its 3D printing work in-house.

“Much of the inspiration came from my desire to create eco-friendly products that were not only well designed but produced with only widely available consumer FDM printers,” Backman told 3DPrint.com. “The challenge was to create what would be viewed as a final product using Makerbot Replicator 2 printers without any post production (sanding, painting etc.) . My hope is that this inspires other designers to push the limits of what would be considered extremely low cost production.”

More consumers these days are starting to become aware of the environmental impact of products they love, but the available choices for eco-friendly products are limited. But adorn3d creates beautifully designed jewelry and home décor products that are also eco-friendly, using corn-based PLA filament.

Backman explained, “Modern society persistently seeks new methods of connecting through technology, failing to recognize the cost. We’re moving progressively further away from Nature. adorn3d produces Living Jewelry – necklace pendants which allow the wearer to display a personal choice of live flowers and plants. Each design includes a home/office Decór counterpart manufactured solely by the company. adorn3d’s products provide customers with a fashionable and practical way to give nature a tangible presence in their daily lives.”

While the company will eventually release more designs, colors, and materials, adorn3d’s campaign backers currently have a choice of three designs, in a variation of five colors, starting at just $15 for both pendant and vase – Dhalia, Tortoise, and Persimmon. Each piece is designed, individually 3D printed, and inspected for quality by adorn3d before being packaged and shipped out, and none of the final products have coatings or dyes that will stain clothing or irritate your skin.

There are still plenty of $15 Early Bird rewards left, or you can choose the $20 Early Bird reward to get a solid sterling silver chain for your pendant. A $35 pledge gets you a premium pendant and the chain, a silk flower, and one of three premium 3D printing materials, including cork and bamboo. Discuss in the Kickstarter forum at 3DPB.com.