fundraising

XMachines Falls

An announcement from XMachines on their Kickstarter page this week revealed the company will not manufacture desktop 3D printers as promised. 

The Robox Personal 3D Printer

We’re looking at another Kickstarter campaign for yet another 3D printer. There have been so many recently it has become very difficult to distinguish one offering from another.    So how does Robox do it?    We were surprised to find it does have several very unique and interesting features. Aside from the now-industry-standard features… Continue reading The Robox Personal 3D Printer

The Helix 3D Printer

Created by Acuity Design of Montana, the Helix is a higher-grade personal 3D printer focusing on professional markets, unlike the countless other low-cost 3D printers appearing on Kickstarter that hope to address consumer needs.    While professional offices currently have commercial 3D printer options that range from USD$10-20K, that price, although lower than industrial 3D… Continue reading The Helix 3D Printer

Breaking: Formlabs Raises $19M

Formlabs announced today they’ve raised USD$19M investment to help grow their company. Formlabs produces the Form 1, the first popular resin-based personal 3D printer, which raised an amazing USD$3M on its first Kickstarter campaign just a few months ago.    The new funding, led by venture capital partner DFJ Growth, now enables Formlabs to embark… Continue reading Breaking: Formlabs Raises $19M

The Peachy 3D Printer is Looking Very Peachy

We wrote earlier this week on the launch Peachy, a new 3D printer with some very revolutionary features. It, like many new ventures, used crowdfunding to get started.    With a Kickstarter goal of USD$50,000, it was inevitable that they’d hit it. They did the first day. But what happened next?    So far they’ve… Continue reading The Peachy 3D Printer is Looking Very Peachy

3D Printer Vaporware

Tom’s Hardware has a thought provoking article on the notion of 3D printer “vaporware”. “Vaporware” originally referred to software that was splashingly announced, but didn’t quite come through with the goods later. Scott Dunham of Tom’s Hardware believes the same phenomenon is now occurring in 3D printing.    It’s not happening at the corporate level,… Continue reading 3D Printer Vaporware

ZEUS: Another 3D Copy and Print Machine

It’s another week and another 3D print “all-in-one” device has emerged to join the likes of Radiant Fabrication’s Lionhead and the Mebotics Microfactory: the ZEUS by AIO Robotics of Los Angeles.    This project delivers four functions: 3D Scan, 3D Print, 3D Copy and 3D Fax, simulating the existence of multiple devices in a single… Continue reading ZEUS: Another 3D Copy and Print Machine

Fuel3D’s Harker Offering

We wrote recently on Fuel3D’s new 3D scanner, just launched on Kickstarter. While the project has been quite successful, gaining more than three times their goal of USD$75,000, they’ve created even more reason to buy one of their devices: Fuel3D has teamed with noted 3D print artist Joshua Harker, who has produced a unique design… Continue reading Fuel3D’s Harker Offering

You Can Help Make 3D-Rex

A new Kickstarter project from Namisu proposes to produce a series of geometric mesh Tyrannosaurus Rex heads using 3D printing. The Namisu project team behind 3D-REX, four folks from Spain and the UK, view 3D-REX as their first of many similar decorative 3D art projects. They say:    Through the 3D-REX project we wanted to… Continue reading You Can Help Make 3D-Rex

Could the Buccaneer Raise USD$1M?

  The launch of Pirate3D’s inexpensive and classy Buccaneer personal 3D printer on Kickstarter was explosive, raising their initial funding goal within mere minutes.    Now, weeks later into the campaign, they’re approaching USD$900K in funding and seemingly within reach of the magic USD$1M mark.    Will they make it?    We think so. The… Continue reading Could the Buccaneer Raise USD$1M?

A 3D Printer From Togo

Yes, Togo. It’s the home of Afate Gnikou of WoeLab, a technology incubator in the small African country. Gnikou has launched a crowdfunding project on Ulule to raise funds to begin building a Togo-designed personal 3D printer.    The goal of the project is to design a 3D printer that can be built from commonly… Continue reading A 3D Printer From Togo

The Gigabot

When the name of the product is “Gigabot”, it’s not hard to imagine their key feature: size. From Texas-based re:3D, the Gigabot has one of the largest print volumes we’ve seen in a personal 3D printer: a whopping 600x600x600mm (that’s two FEET cubed, for you Imperial measurers).    The Gigabot is capable of layer sizes… Continue reading The Gigabot

The Filastruder

The cost of a 3D printer is not only the printer itself, but also the print material. In most cases, personal 3D printers use plastic filament, either ABS or PLA plastic. If you’re a prolific 3D print maker, you might actually spend more on plastic than you did on the 3D printer.    How can… Continue reading The Filastruder

A 3D Print Refiner

We’ve seen countless startup 3D printer companies launch crowd funding campaigns in the past year. Now we’re seeing a plethora of 3D printing accessory devices sprout from the minds of world’s entrepreneurs. Today’s 3D print accessory is the 3D Refiner.    3D Prints Express’s 3D Refiner attempts to solve one of the banes of early… Continue reading A 3D Print Refiner

The Photon 3D Scanner

Tired of designing your own 3D CAD models? Worn out from endless searching 3D repositories for that specific 3D design? If so, why not scan your own physical objects and replicate them? Usually you can’t because 3D scanning is frequently an expensive proposition.    But that could change with the introduction of the Photon 3D… Continue reading The Photon 3D Scanner

The mUVe 1 3D Printer

With the expiration of key patents around photo-curable 3D printer techniques, we’ve seen several new resin-based personal 3D printer projects. Now another has emerged, the mUVe 1 from mUVe 3D, created as a part-time project by maker Michigan-based Dean Piper. The mUVe 1 is the first product from mUVe 3D, now seeking initial funding via… Continue reading The mUVe 1 3D Printer

The B9Creator Returns

Readers may recall the hugely successful B9Creator 3D printer kit Kickstarter project last year: it raised a ridiculous USD$513,422 to develop a revolutionary personal 3D printer based on photo-cured resin technology.    The project was obviously successful and a number of “version 1’s” were sent to happy customers. But now founder Michael Joyce has returned… Continue reading The B9Creator Returns

3D Captured Tattoos

We’re looking at an unusual 3D scanning project on Kickstarter: the “3d tattoo body art scanner” by UK artist Lee Wagstaff. Wagstaff is notable as he was the first person to use his own body art as presentation material during his Master’s degree defense.    Having such an incredible array of intricate tattoos poses a… Continue reading 3D Captured Tattoos

Sandboxr’s Figurine Service

There’s another 3D print service about to emerge: Sandboxr. It’s specialized for the easy creation of 3D figurines using a friendly interactive interface.    The new service should enable you to create a unique figurine 3D model by posing a pre-made highly detailed 3D model prepared by professional artists. It appears very reminiscent of game… Continue reading Sandboxr’s Figurine Service

PandaBot Succeeds – and Fails

We wondered what might happen to the Toronto-based project attempting to produce a user-friendly personal 3D printer. Their Kickstarter campaign languished and didn’t seem to have the momentum to make to their target, and it seems they didn’t. Their campaign was abruptly closed with a total slightly south of USD$40K.    That’s the bad news.… Continue reading PandaBot Succeeds – and Fails

Millions To Form 1

We’ve all heard about the success of Formlab’s incredible fundraising success on the launch of their new Form 1 resin-based 3D printer, but how well did they do?    Their Kickstarter campaign has officially closed today and the results are beyond startling:  They’ve raised exactly USD$2,945,885 They’ve received orders for 1,028 Form 1 machines by… Continue reading Millions To Form 1

UK to Invest an Additional £7 million in A.M.

On the heels of a story we reported last week, the Technology Strategy Board, an advisory group to the UK’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, has announced it will invest £7 million to help spur innovation in additive manufacturing.   MP David Willet’s had this to say about the program, “3D printing technologies offer… Continue reading UK to Invest an Additional £7 million in A.M.

Will PandaBot Make It?

We’re watching the PandaBot 3D printer fundraising campaign closely and we’re wondering if the project will reach its goal of USD$50,000. Currently they’re running over USD$10,000 short with over a week to go.    If you read through the comments on their Kickstarter page, you’ll encounter some controversy surrounding the print quality and ability of… Continue reading Will PandaBot Make It?

PandaBot is on Kickstarter

Toronto-based Panda Robotics has finally launched their first personal 3D printer, the PandaBot, on Kickstarter. They’re raising funds for their first big production run, a modest USD$50,000.    In their video, Panda Robotics’ Design Engineer Liav Koren explains their goal is to produce a unit suitable for anyone to have on their desk. This means… Continue reading PandaBot is on Kickstarter

The Ultra-Bot 3D Printer

The Ultra-Bot is yet another Kickstarter project producing a unique 3D printer. This one is already successful, raising over 5x its goal of USD$7,500.    Project creator William Steele of Indiana did indeed do something very unique on this project. No, he didn’t invent or incorporate a new technology. No, he didn’t make something incredibly… Continue reading The Ultra-Bot 3D Printer

Startling Form 1 Update

We discussed the sudden announcement of Formlabs’ amazing Form 1 resin-based 3D printer yesterday, but we need to talk about it some more. Something amazing is happening.    The Formlabs is raising funds for device production on Kickstarter and set a goal of USD$100,000 within 30 days of launch. How close are they to meeting… Continue reading Startling Form 1 Update

The HYREL 3D Printer

Another KickStarter project is launching an inexpensive 3D printer. It’s the HYREL 3D Printer by Daniel Hutchison of Alpharetta, Georgia.    There are so many similar crowd funded 3D printing projects up at the moment it’s becoming difficult to distinguish between them. So what’s different about the HYREL?    It’s fully assembled, calibrated and tested,… Continue reading The HYREL 3D Printer

Legends of Kalidasia Pioneers A New Approach

Jason Rutherford of Kalidesia contacted us to talk about a new approach he’s taken in his gaming business. Rutherford makes the Legends of Kalidasia game, played with traditional resin and pewter figures. His company manufactures and markets these figures, but he’s concerned about the future. You know, the future where people print out their own… Continue reading Legends of Kalidasia Pioneers A New Approach

Easy 3D Printing with File2Part

Preparing 3D models for 3D printing is often problematic. They’re in the wrong orientation, wrong size, etc. While most 3D printer-specific operation software can do rudimentary orientation and sizing, you’ll still have to use other programs to fix errors in the model and slice it into printable form. That will change with the introduction of… Continue reading Easy 3D Printing with File2Part

The Folding 3D Printer

There was once a time when your 3D printer arrived as bags of teeny parts that you had to carefully assemble over a weekend. Then there came a time when your 3D printer would arrive fully assembled. Now is the time when your 3D printer can arrive folded.    Folded?    Yes, folded. Maker Emmanuel… Continue reading The Folding 3D Printer

Another Open Source Resin 3D Printer: Sedgwick

We’ve uncovered another resin-based 3D printer project. The “Sedgwick Open Source 3D DLP Printer” by Ron Light is now crowd funding on Kickstarter with the very precise goal of USD$24,750 by July 14th.    So far the project has had limited success raising funds, but there is plenty of time left to achieve their goal. … Continue reading Another Open Source Resin 3D Printer: Sedgwick

Matt Underwood’s 3D Vision

Manufacturing engineer Matt Underwood’s Kickstarter project is the Vision 3D printer. Yes, it’s another RepRap variant, but with quite a few interesting improvements.    Underwood observed that while many inexpensive 3D printer kits are available they are typically difficult and time consuming to build, making them beyond the reach of non-technical mortals. He set out… Continue reading Matt Underwood’s 3D Vision

B9 Is 350!

Some weeks ago we informed you on the new B9Creator resin-based 3D printer project on KickStarter. Resin 3D printers promise super-high resolution and fast prints, but they’re outside the mainstream personal 3D printing technology, which has been plastic extrusion.    We wondered how the community would react to the emergence and possibility of owning such… Continue reading B9 Is 350!

Haptic A-Go-Go

Anarkik3D has opened a crowd funding initiative at IndieGoGO to raise money for enhancements to their Cloud9 haptic 3D modeling software. The project’s goal is sufficient funding for two full time programmers to develop the improvements, which means USD$120,000 by June 27th.    We think this is important, because, as Anarkik3D’s CEO Ann Marie Shillito… Continue reading Haptic A-Go-Go

The Stelliform Owl

California-based customer service rep Grant Miller is one of many folks who moonlight as a 3D artisan when not doing their day job. Miller’s particular interest lies in “toys, statues and animations” and he’s been freelancing in this area for some time.    To produce a “portfolio piece” he drew upon his love for owls… Continue reading The Stelliform Owl

The $300 Desktop 3D Printer?

Another 3D printer startup has emerged: the Makibox A6, billed as: “The $300 Desktop 3D Printer”. The project is led by Jon Buford, who hopes to raise USD$40,000 by the end of February through the funding site Makible. Buford says: “we’ve set out to build the most affordable, compact, and easy to use 3D printer… Continue reading The $300 Desktop 3D Printer?

North America’s Largest 3D Print?

Everyone asks how big can you print, but we have a group trying to print something truly massive. JF Brandon of Vancouver, Canada wants your help to print a gigantic version of famed 3D designer Bathsheba Grossman’s “Rygo” for outdoor installation at Gropp’s Gallery of Vancouver.   The Rygo is an algorithmic design – generated… Continue reading North America’s Largest 3D Print?