Looking for a Used 3D Printer?

The press typically covers announcements of new printers, but did you know you can find used 3D printers for sale at prices that are sometimes quite a bit lower than retail? We cruised through Ebay today to see what we could find: 

 

• ZCorp Spectrum 510 for USD$20,000
• 3D Systems Actua 2100 Rapid Plastic Prototype Printer for USD$4,000

 

Offers such as these are typical on eBay but vary from day to day. If it makes sense for you to own a high-powered commercial 3D printer, you might consider making a deal on eBay. Last week noticed a brand new Solido 3D printer at a very attractive price point, a 3D Systems ThermoJet Modeler sold for USD$1,850 and an Objet Eden 250 Polyjet printer sold for USD$31,610. 

 

How could this make sense? Why wouldn't you simply use a 3D print service instead? Using a 3D print service probably is sensible for most people, but if your printouts are more frequent than occasional or perhaps your turnaround requirements can't handle a day or two of shipping, this could be a good option for you.

  

One interesting observation: there's very few hobbyist 3D printers for sale: no MakerBots and some RepRap part kits (typically for the Mendel version). At press time, only one fully assembled Mendel RepRap device was at auction. We suspect people love their kits so much they'd never part with them. 

 

Via eBay 

Eleven Year Old Boy Builds 3D Printer

Some may say 3D printing is a niche topic understandable only by ultrageeks, but we're reading about Justin Urke, an eleven year old from Auburn, California who not only can use a 3D printer, but apparently has constructed his own! Even though he modified the design to increase the size of the build chamber from 4x4 inches to 8x12, he found the most challenging element of the project to be the software.

We're not sure which printer design Justin based his design upon, but there are several he could choose from.

What does this mean? We think it shows two important things: first, there are sufficient designs, software and materials available to actually achieve this on your own. Second, it shows how capable young students can be if they have the passion to focus on a project that leverages the available information. Congratulations, Justin!

Via Auburn Journal

CubeSpawn

Another very cool KickStarter project has appeared: CubeSpawn, by James Jones. The project's concept is to establish a standard approach to linking personal manufacturing machines together based on the common cube shape. In this vision, 30cm square cubes are placed adjacent to one another, and each contains some type of manufacturing machine. Results from one cube are passed to the next cube for further manufacturing.

The project envisions standard cubes with "the basic 20 or so industrial capabilities". With a library of functions like that, one could potentially assemble a manufacturing plant simply by arranging the appropriate selection of cubes in the right sequence and providing some coordinating software. According to CubeSpawn:

If the cubes can pass what they are working on between them and each cube can do one of more steps in making something, then a large collection of cubes with the basic 20 or so industrial capabilities, could make almost anything -- that is, anything of a size that would pass through them, of course.

In video Jones explains his goal to produce a set of standards that permits easy creation of a complete manufacturing process from end to end. He's starting by building two prototypes in 0.5m size.

If you'd like to support open hardware, we'd encourage you to contribute to this very interesting project. Good luck, CubeSpawn!

Via CubeSpawn and KickStarter

3D Systems Unveils The Biggest!

3D Printer manufacturer 3D Systems demonstrated their new Projet 5000 Large Format 3D printer at the EuroMold conference. Is this just another 3D printer? No - there's something unique about this one.

It possibly has the largest build chamber available in a 3D printer today: a staggering 55 x 39 x 30 cm. To accompany that statistic, the Projet 5000 can also run for an amazing 80 unattended hours, due to its ability to hold up to 8 material delivery modules.

For those applications that absolutely require the large build size, this will be welcome news. No word on pricing yet, but it's probably more than we can afford.

Via 3D Systems

SOLIDO SD300 Pro

Israeli-based SOLIDO announced a new 3D printer: the SOLIDO SD300 Pro, which succeeds the previous SD300. The SD300 uses Plastic Sheet Lamination technology to produce 3D objects:

The materials used in the SD300 Pro are a combination of PVC (PolyVinyl Chloride) and our own adhesive which results in rugged yet inexpensive models. These models can be machined, drilled, finished and painted and show no distortion over time.

Available material colors are: Amber transparent, Red, Blue, Black and Cream, and the layer thickness is 0.168mm. The moderately sized build chamber is 16 x 21 x 13.5 cm, able to handle small objects easily.

SOLIDO makes a point that this is an office device:

Anyone can operate the SD300 3D Printer.  The model build process requires no intervention and the replacement of consumable materials can be done by anyone - it is no more complicated than changing cartridges on a copy machine or a 2D printer.  The SD300 creates no ambient dust or residue so there is no cleanup required after each build.

While not quite as green as MCOR's paper 3D printer, SOLIDO does include a recycling kit with each printer, enabling you to easily return unused raw material back to SOLIDO.

The best part: the price of the SD300 Pro is only €2,950 (USD$4,375). Does this make it a sub-USD$5,000 3D printer? We think so!

Via SOLIDO

Sciaky's EBF3

Following on from our previous posts on the promising EBF3 technique (Electron Beam FreeForm Fabrication), we bumped into a video showing a commercial implementation from Sciaky. The video shows the build process as well as highlighting the key benefits:

• Drastically reduce material costs
• Dramatically shorten lead times
• Slash machining time
• Save over costly forgings or castings
• eliminate wait time for dies, moulds and billets

The resulting object looks a little rough, but the normal approach is to follow up with some serious machining time to complete the object. According to the video, the part above was printed with Titanium Wire source material over a period of 56 hours. It's to be followed with approximately 60 hours of machining. The total 116 hours is lower than using traditional manufacturing techniques.

The Sciaky printer also accepts powder material as well as wire fed, and can print an amazing 15-40 pounds of material per hour sustained, with even higher burst rates. It can even alter the chemistry or alloy during printing.

We're adding Titanium Wire to our weekly shopping list right now!

Via YouTube and Sciaky (Hat tip to Kerry)

The MIT Food Printer

MIT's Fluid Interfaces Group is working on the design of a concept device that if made popular, would revolutionize how we cook, eat and even socialize.

The device shown above (and don't get your hopes up, that's merely a conceptual image) would store a variety of raw food elements in cartridges. The cartridges would be swapped into the print head, which can hold several simultaneously. A 3D model, or "recipe" would drive the head to the right spots to deposit juicy material in a delicious pattern.

This "personal food factory" implies many things:

• A new (or enhanced) 3D data format would have to be designed to accommodate for the new food and cooking oriented features - heat sequences, wait times, etc.
  
• An ecosystem of recipe repositories would erupt, complete with rating systems, images and taste tests. And then: Pirate Food!
• A highly competitive industry providing raw food materials would emerge, likely starting from home food designers, but moving up to industrial scale operations, too
• Grocery store shelves would be stocked with Tassimo-like food factory cartridges, perhaps organized into "meal kits" containing all the ingredients and recipe files for themed events. We'd probably like the bean burrito package
  
• iPhone apps would permit selection of meals remotely, allowing one to eat immediately after arriving home

And that's not all. We can imagine digital food would fundamentally alter remote meetings and teleconferences too, when you can eat the same dainties as they folks on the other end.

Ominous statement at the website: "This project is currently starting."

Via MIT

MCOR Matrix 300

The Irish MCOR scientists still believe they can print 3D objects on paper - and they are correct! This past week they announced their latest 3D paper printer, the MCOR Matrix 300, pictured above.

The new model apparently provides some interesting advantages over previous models:

• Faster turnaround (however, we saw no statistics on this) at similar cost
• Sleek design (see image above)
• Enhanced software that simplifies the process, including optimized waste removal
• Smooth curves and "parts that have a real tactile finish"
• Parts with "variable stiffness"

And of course, the MCOR's previous advantages still exist: very inexpensive print media (paper) and ecologically friendly, suitable for use anywhere. The 300 is slated to roll out to UK and Ireland in January.

Via MCOR