We’ve seen a great many 3D printers in the past few years, but none has the classic design of the Hotrod Henry from Poland’s aye aye labs.
Is it a 3D printer, or a jukebox? It could pass for either, depending on how close you look. It’s curved metal edges are unique in the world of 3D printing. Just check out the “vintage” control panel with its metal buttons at the top. Incredible!
Aside from looks and the 1950ish name, the Hotrod Henry is quite a capable 3D printer:
- There’s a massive 350 x 350 x 600mm build volume, many times more than typical personal 3D printers.
- Small footprint, as compared to the huge build volume.
- All metal case and frame design, made from laser-cut aluminum and steel.
- High-quality motion components designed for non-stop (days) printing without requirements for maintenance or failure.
- All metal Micron extruder, capable of temperatures up to 350C, making this machine able to print not only ABS and PLA, but Nylon and possibly even ULTEM! The metal extruder is also able to print metal composite and carbon fiber filaments without instant erosion, too.
- Brilliantly visible OLED display wrapped by the vintage look, “visible from every corner of your room!”
- Layer size as small as 0.04mm, although printing large items with that resolution would take a very long time.
- Heated aluminum print surface with tempered glass top – and an enclosed chamber to capture heat for print reliability.
The Hotrod Henry is not quite for sale yet, but you can pre-order one. It’s expected to be available sometime in June, according to sources. Pricing: €5,000 (USD$5,555). Even better: there is a very special “supercharged” version with far greater speed to be released as well; we’ll examine that model in a second post.
We’re impressed. This unit has quite a number of useful features, but they’re combined with massive build volume. That’s unique.
Via aye aye labs
