Theoretically amazing. I funded this a very long time ago and am still waiting patiently. And until the general populace can get one in their hands, it’s theoretical. Anyone can make amazing prints when there’s all the time in the world and no pressure from customers.
I was going to say the same thing. We’ve been waiting a couple years now… Their original delivery date was October 2013.
They’ve actually been a model of a project that communicates and explains what they’re doing and what their setbacks are, and what their plan is, etc etc. The main issue seemed to be that there were some flaws in the original design: it was beautiful in principle, using just the audio jack to both control the x-y location of the laser and to “listen” for the change in height of the water — seriously, this thing could have been driven by a phone — but which in practice turned out to be too simple. It was obvious that he had hoped the small issues could be solved with simple solutions, but now we’ve moved to much more complex technology.
I don’t think he’s mentioned his budget in any updates, but I’m fairly certain they ran out of money a long time ago and the main guy is just digging into his pockets.
Most of the vocal KS community has just wanted them to release the damn thing, and let the community come up with their own patches and bugfixes. But they clearly want to release a real, working product. Unfortunately, we haven’t even had an update in over a month.
So, kudos to them in a lot of ways, but this shouldn’t be promoted like it’s a done deal until it actually starts getting into people’s hands.
If they’re aiming this at beginners, and the website seems to indicate it is, they should really do a better (or any) job explaining what the underlying technology is. The term “stereolithography” never even appears on their site.
I’m not sure who their target market is at this point. They probably don’t either. Originally it was hobbyists and makers, as they were going to provide the device as a kit and you had to get your own water and goop holders and at some point they added in ones they would provide so it was more straight out of a box. A lot of people (including myself) were really excited about the use of dumb tech like the audio port to do all the work, as it becomes more complex it seems like they’re adding new parts to keep up with what other 3D printers can do instead of just finalizing their design and seeing what people can do with it.
I’m still excited to see what it can do, but as time goes on it starts to seem more vaporware and less like I’ll get some lasers and a mirror to do my bidding anytime. Not even upset about it, as that’s how crowdfunding works, but if one ever arrives I’m going to be mildly shocked.
And when they can cull the misprints and polish the ones that succeed imperfectly.
This was developed in the city I live in. The place I work at has demos where people come and talk about technological things, and the developers brought in their printer and showed off some of the stuff they’d made on it. It’s pretty impressive, most of the stuff looked pretty damn good (if small). Very impressive for a 100 dollar printer at any rate.
Another in a long string of reasons I don’t find hardware.
$ 100 for a stl printer !! that is so in my potential budget !!
$$ 60 for a liter of goop ?? so out of my league !!
and , is not most goop kinda toxic before curing , and some even after ??
oooh , and it is " not shipping yet "
( the phrase " not shipping yet " , when used by overdue kickstarters is trademark , copyleft , and patent by
" trolls’R’us " ( the phrase " trolls’R’us " is trademark , copyleft , and patent by " not shipping yet ", llc )
but , nifty and inspiring !!
but , maybe just a reprap for now or soon ; certs of dep are paying POINT eight five interest ?? gonna be a real long wait for me ~ or , ahhh , well , maybe a plastic deposition pen for starters ~
The price is not so catastrophical when we take into account the size vs accuracy and speed tradeoff. Tiny things like gaming pieces or small mechanical parts are low-volume, and the unused goop will stay there for further use. And the printing is fast, in comparison with the filament deposition.
On the other hand, when you have the time and need a big part cheap, filament printing is the choice.
Because it’s very small?
i have yet to investigate the weight or volume of a 20 $$ one time print from the coffeshop/maker space downtown here , perhaps a 60 $ liter is not all that pricey in comparison ( only about 17 cups of ( other than home made ) triple shot mochas , or fewer , mmm , say ahhh , 7 months worth ) ~ i still kind of base my " sticker shock " thresholds on 1974 constant dollars , which is perhaps a sub-optimal strategy , especially for devices which would have been sci-fi back then ~
Also count that the cost of material is only and only the actually consumed material. (Make the thing hollow (and with a drain hole!) and you’re golden.) This is one of the major advantages of 3d printing; even a fairly large object can be designed as lightweight.
With subtractive technologies you usually have a cheaper material but need much bigger block of it and remove most as useless (though often remeltable) swarf.
Thought: you could also save by designing solid things as hollow, to be filled with another, cheaper resin afterwards.
Another thought… what about mixing the resin with a filler, e.g finely powdered silica? Could make objects with better mechanical properties, for lower cost…
This thing looks so friggin’ awesome. I wish it was real, because I want one!
It may be close to being real-ish. I have hopes.
my hands are my 3D printer for now…
Lots of other brands of the same stuff, Thermomorph, Polymorph, Instamorph, Friendly Plastic, Moldable Plastic, Fantastic Plastic, Pla-friend, Plasty Craft, Polymold, etc.
i wish i knew how to make this stuff out of recycled milk jugs, then I’d be set!
anyone have any idea if you can make this stuff yourself?
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
