Sculptify Releases New Details on 'David' the 3D Printer That Prints Using Pellets

Last month, we reported on a new 3D printer from a company called Sculptify, which instead of printing from spools of filament, will print using pellets of material. The 3D printer, called “David” utilizes a special “FLEX” technology, and has the potential to not only open up a larger variety of new material options, but also should save users money, by allowing them to print directly from raw materials.

Today, Sculptify has informed us that they intend to launch a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for the David 3D printer next month. Individuals that back their campaign will be able to choose to receive production units in exchange for their funding.

“We have gone as far as we can with our personal savings and loans from family members — it’s time for us to get out of our basements and get this product into the community’s hands.” said Slade Simpson, CEO and Co-founder of Sculptify. “Their support and input will expedite the material optimization process, and help make David the most capable 3D printer possible.”

Sculptify also has released a new video showing the David 3D printer in action (see below). As you will see, instead of feeding spools of traditional filament into the printer, you simply pour pellets into the top, and begin printing.

There seems to be a big movement in the consumer 3D printing space recently — a movement where people are trying to find ways around the expensive price of manufactured filament. Filament can run anywhere from $20 – $60 per kg, while raw materials such as pellets cost literally pennies on the dollar. Many companies have come out with machines called filament extruders, which allow people to feet pellets or ground up plastic into the machine and have it spit out 1.75mm spoolable filament. With this said, Sculpitfy, with their new David 3D printer seeks to skip this step. They aim to allow their users to simply feed the printer with these raw materials, and have the printer do both the work of a normal 3D printer as well as that of a filament extruder, all in one.

Sculptify has also announced that they have expanded their website section dedicated to the David 3D printer. “We are receiving a humbling and overwhelming amount of feedback and questions from the community since our David unveil,” explained Todd Linthicum, President and Co-founder of Sculptify. “Their questions are very important to us, so we want to make sure that we can visually answer as many of them as possible.”

The company has also released specifications for their prototype of the David, as seen below. These are the details that the company plans for the initial release of the 3D printer to include.

Video of the David in action:

The ability for the printer to accept direct pellets of material, opens up the opportunity for new and innovative materials. Some of the materials that they plan to have available at its release include: ABS, ethylene vinyl acetate, high impact polystyrene, high-density polyethylene, nylon, polycarbonate, PLA, thermoplastic polyurethane, and wood composites.

What do you think about the potential that this new 3D printer has? Discuss in the Sculptify David 3D Printer Forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the close up printing video below: