The Printrbot Metal Plus 3D Printer – Coming this Black Friday for $999

It was only about three years ago that a man named Brook Drumm decided to launch a Kickstarter campaign for a 3D printer called Printrbot. Setting a modest goal of $25,000, just enough to really help him get things going, he had hoped it would garner enough interest from those people wanting to see a high quality 3D printer come to market at an affordable price. 1,808 backers and $830,827 dollars later, Drumm had officially funded his project, surpassing his goal by a ridiculous 3323%. Since then, Printrbot, has become one of the feel good stories within the 3D printing industry.

Drumm, unlike some other companies, preferred to keep things open source, and while many CEO’s of companies claim that they do what they do for the love of the technology, Drumm is the only one that I would actually believe. While his business model is a sound one, and undoubtedly he is raking in the profits, I get the feeling that he would be just as happy if this were merely a hobby. He is always tinkering around with things, whether it be the new Printrbot Paste Extruder that’s under development, a large 3D printer he just created for “fun”, or even a documentary on the open source RepRap 3D printer movement.  He seems to have his hands in just about everything.

Just last night, Drumm announced the unveiling of the latest Printrbot 3D printer, the Printrbot Metal Plus. Becoming available this Black Friday, the latest, and perhaps greatest in the line of 3D printers from Drumm, will be priced starting at $999, and will be constructed almost entirely of metal. The standard model comes with a single extruder and no heated print bed. However, Drumm also tells 3DPrint.com that there will be another version available which includes a dual extruder as well as a heated bed for just $1299. “[It] includes [a] 24V power supply for plenty of power and faster heat (no more ATX PSU),” Drumm tells us.

The Printrbot Metal Plus will feature a 10x10x10″ build area, which includes a Mic6 aluminum print bed. While the standard version will not come equipped with a heated bed, it will be compatible with one if you would like to add one yourself. The Metal Plus also comes with a Ubus hotend, to ensure very high quality printing. The X & Y axes will be linear rails.  Drumm used GT2 belts for both the X and Y axes, and an Acme threaded rod for the Z. As for the aesthetic design of the printer itself, the all-metal, powder body features a “Super low profile design, significantly smaller than [the] previous version of the Plus,” according to Drumm.

The new design, which we are told will take up minimal space on your desk, also makes the Metal Plus very easy to carry and extremely pleasing to the eye. While I haven’t had the chance to try it out yet, it certainly looks like Drumm has created yet another very high quality 3D printer while still being able to keep the price tag low.

“We are really proud of this design and think it’s our best work and best design yet,” Drumm tells us.

Like mentioned above, the Metal Plus will go on sale via the Printrbot website this coming friday, which happens to be Black Friday, in both kit and fully assembled form.

Discuss this new 3D printer by Printrbot in the Printrbot Metal Plus forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video and more photos of this printer below.