BigBox3D’s first 3D printer hopes to be the “no-compromises high specification 3D printer” you’re looking for.
But who is BigBox3D? It’s a joint venture between electronics supplier LittleBox and noted 3D printer hotend manufacturer E3D. The two have formed a new company, BigBox3D and created a fully open source (and thus hackable) 3D printer design, the E3D BigBox.
The plastic-extrusion machine has some attractive features:
- A very generous build volume of 300 x 200 x 280mm
- Layer sizes of as small as 0.050mm
- Auto-leveling feature
- Optional built-in OctoPrint connectivity
- Printing speed up to 100mm/s
- Optional heated print surface
- And of course, E3D hotends (single or dual)
The company describes their features dramatically here:
The BigBox is no-compromises high specification 3D printer, combining immense print resolution, over huge print volume, an extrusion system capable of almost every material on the market, all wrapped up in a neat clutter free package with an easy to use toolchain.
That’s one of the most interesting features: the ability to 3D print almost any material, including ABS, PLA, flexible filament, metal-based filament and much more.
Here’s a view of how the auto leveling feature works.
The video shows an extremely ridiculous tipped print bed, but the E3D BigBox apparently can still print successfully. This feature should be on every desktop 3D printer.
They also say they’ve spent considerable effort to refine the mechanics of the machine to ensure it is nearly vibration-free and of very high accuracy. We should expect to see very precise 3D prints emerge from the E3D BigBox, like the small pot shown here.
As of this writing, the pricing for the E3D BigBox is not yet available, but it will be when the Kickstarter campaign launches tomorrow. We’re very curious to see what price point the company will set.
[UPDATE] The pricing for the E3D BigBox has been released, and it looks like you can obtain a smaller kit for as little as £455 (USD$710) and an assembled version for £855 (USD$1335). Also the project seems to be rapidly steaming toward its funding goal; it appears they’ll be able to meet their objectives by the end of their 30 day funding period.
Via BigBox3D
