Now on Kickstarter: The BOLT MINI, a Stylish, Open Source 3D Printer from India

Adarsh Simon is an aspiring product designer with a keen eye for detail, and he also enjoys hacking electronics. Now his interests have led him to research additive manufacturing techniques, and that research has resulted in the BOLT MINI, an all-metal, open source 3D printer.

Simon, an architecture student at RMI NITT and a resident of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, is seeking Kickstarter funding for his BOLT MINI. Simon and his team call the printer “the perfect Open Source printer” and note that it was designed to “ give the same quality prints as any expensive printer for half the price.”

The MINI is Open Source as the team behind it believe that the rise in 3D printing technology came about as a result of the RepRap, and that the BOLT is a project they undertook to support that movement.

The BOLT MINI was designed and built by a team of engineers, designers, and problem-solvers, and according to Simon the BOLT will serve as the platform for innovative and sophisticated fabrication tools going forward if the Kickstarter goals are met.

He and his team “believe in what we do, and we’re excited about creating powerful tools that change the way we work and live.”

“BOLT MINI is built from scratch to optimize the parts required for the printer, after 4 prototypes we have arrived at our final production ready model,” they say on Kickstarter. “We are excited to start manufacturing the MINI with your support. In order to put the BOLT MINI on the market, we need your help to get a reasonable volume of printers to start manufacturing. When we buy the parts in bulk it will reduce the costs, this way we can offer you a high-quality open source printer for the best price.”

As for the details, the BOLT MINI features dual cooling fan at the hot end, a heated build plate to print “tricky materials,” a 0.4mm extruder nozzle, a built-in power supply, an all-metal body built from aluminum and steel, the ability to print at 60 microns per layer, a 200 x 200 x 200 cm build envelope an all-metal hot end.

And the BOLT MINI can print at 60 mm/s, which the team define as the ideal rate for the best quality-to-time output ratio.

The team designed the BOLT MINI, with its high torque motors, to allow for precision movement without compromising print speed. The device is equipped with an LCD display to provide real time information about the print process and controls without the need for a separate computer which makes it capable of printing without an SD card. The BOLT MINI also includes auto bed leveling to detect the bed position before each print and adjust itself.

The BOLT MINI’s Kickstarter campaign, running through September 6th, is seeking to raise $50,000 CAD (about $38K USD).

A commitment of $699 CAD gets the basic printer kit, while a commitment of $1199 will net a fully assembled BOLT MINI, two 1 kg PLA filament spools, a unique code and your name on the printer. Estimated delivery will take place in January of 2016.

You can see all the details of the BOLT MINI Kickstarter campaign here.

What do you think about the BOLT MINI open source 3D printer project on Kickstarter? Let us know in the BOLT MINI forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the team’s Kickstarter video, as well as the specs for the BOLT MINI, below.