To start this story off I will take us back in time, a time when 3D printers were not affordable, a time when you’d need at least $600 to purchase even the most basic 3D printer on the market. When was this time? Unbelievably, it was just about six months ago. Here we are halfway through 2014 and we have a 3D printer market which would almost be unrecognizable six months ago. We have already seen two sub $300 printers reach their crowdfunding goals, with M3D’s The Micro raising millions of dollars just last month, and now New Matter’s MOD-t 3D printer, which is currently in the midst of an Indiegogo campaign, having already surpassed their stated goal.
A Mock-up of the Back of the Blue and Black PrintM3
The MOD-t launched on Indiegogo, offering early bird backers the ability to pick one up for just $149. Surely $149 had to be the floor for this market, right? Wrong! Today a new company has launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for their new 3D printer, the PrintM3. Remarkably, their early bird price for the PrintM3 was just $139, prior to selling out. Currently the backer price is set at $199+, depending on the package ordered. The company has not revealed what the actual retail price will be upon launch, however, it’s safe to say it will be well under $300.
The company is seeking funding of $75,000 to help develop the PrintM3, which uses a delta robot technique to move an extruder around a print bed, depositing molten plastic. It is important to note that they have not shown a working prototype on their Indiegogo page, therefore it is safe to assume that they are still in the early stages of research & development. Regardless, if funded, the company hopes to have the first printers shipped to backers by November of this year, in a variety of different colors.
The Specifications of the PrintM3 are as follows:
- Printer Size: Height 520mm – Diameter: 300mm
- Triaxial Itinerary of X, Y and Z: 200mm, 200mm, 220mm
- X, Y, Z axis positioning resolution: 0.01mm
- Build Envelope: 220mm height/ 200mm Diameter
- Printer Speed 4800mm per minute (plus/ minus)
- Extrusion Temperature: 255 deg cel.
- Printing Nozzle Diameter 0.4mm [Note: 0.5mm to 1mm interchangable on your own]
- Materials: PLA and ABS compatible 1.75mm+-0.1mm
- Compatibility: Windows 7, Vista, Linux, Mac-ox, XP, 8
It will be interesting to see if this printer gets the funding they need, by their self set deadline of July 3rd. Further discussion around this new device can be found at the PrintM3 forum thread at 3DPB.com. Check out the short video clip provided by the company below, and if you wish to back their crowdfunding campaign follow this link.
