Brooklyn has been a bit of hotbed for 3D printing tech, and one company based there is gCreate.
They’ve now been around for four years, having launched with a successful Kickstarter campaign in mid-2013. At that time they launched their first product, a basic desktop 3D printer called the gMax. The machine has been upgraded a few times since then, but now they’re apparently developing version 2.
We had a quick look at a prototype of V2 recently and spoke with gCreate co-founder Gordon Laplante.
The gMax 2 is similar to its most recent predecessor, the gMax 1.5, in many ways. It has a similar rather large build volume of around 406 x 406 x 305mm in an open concept frame.
Laplante explained that the major differences are not particularly visible, but vitally important. The gMax v2 will include all metal parts, linear guide rails and new Marlin firmware.
These changes should make the machine more reliable, which is very important on a machine that prints large objects. The longer the print, the more time exists for something to go wrong. Increasing the reliability of the machine overall will reduce the failure rate on large prints.
The machine is not currently available, but is expected to be introduced formally in the next few months with a suggested price close to USD$4,000.
I asked Laplante what it was about Brooklyn that seems to generate so many 3D print companies, with notable companies such as MakerBot and the former Solidoodle originating there. He wasn’t sure, but did say they are located right beside Voodoo Manufacturing, a company we recently wrote on, describing their incredible robotic automation system.
Laplante said they are so close together they can “hear the robot running”.
gCreate may not have giant robots, but they do make giant 3D printers.
Via gCreate
