Pirate3D made quite a splash with their Buccaneer 3D printer that they are launching at $347 (+$50 shipping). This morning, they launched their Kickstarter campaign and have already $140,000 in funding. The first 360 backers of the Kickstarter campaign got the printer for $247 (+$50 shipping). The Buccaneer won’t ship until February 2014, but relative to the cost of other pre-assembled printers on the market, this printer is a bargain.
SOURCE: Kickstarter
The Buccaneer by Pirate3D isn’t the only 3D printer on the block looking for funding on KickStarter these days. Gadget 3D launched their campaign last Wednesday and are very close to their goal of $100,000. The Zortrax M200 is $1,899 plus shipping of $99 to US/Canada ($199 international). Gadget 3D is seeking to make the experience as seamless as possible with custom software that should work right out of the box with the printer. From the photos on their KickStarter campaign, the printer looks well polished. The output also looks pretty impressive. The team is based out of Poland with additional offices in Hong Kong. Check out their KickStarter campaign for a video and photos.
SOURCE: TechCrunch KickStarter
Pirate3D has sent out an email to followers letting them know that The Buccaneer will be launching on Kickstarter for $347. The crowdfunding for the project will start on May 30th at 11 am EST. For the first few backers, Pirate3D is offering the printer up for $247. See the video below for The Buccaneer in action.
SOURCE: Pirate3D
Since you can now print a gun with a 3D printer, why not just print your meal as well? Anjan Contractor, from Systems and Materials Research Corporation (SMRC) in Austin, TX, has received a $125,000 grant from the NASA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to create a prototype printer. Contractor has already shown feasibility within a laboratory. Continue reading
A collaboration between researchers at the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia and Joris Laarman Studio has led to an impressive new process for additive manufacturing. Unlike the 3D printers currently on the market, the researchers have developed a method that can be made independent of the inclination and smoothness of the working surface. The researchers have termed the method “Anti-gravity Object Modeling.” Check out the method in action here
SOURCE: Mataerial
It is not the first sub-$1000 3D printer and it sure won’t be the last, but Pirate 3D’s announcement of The Buccaneer for $347 is an impressive unveiling that is sure to start turning heads. The decline in prices for 3D printers is as inevitable as Apple releasing a new iPhone. The bigger question has been when all the talk of everybody owning a 3D printer would become a reality. The Buccaneer might not end up in everybody’s home, but it opens up the creative world of 3D printing to a much wider audience. At the price of a high-end inkjet printer, why not experiment with the endless possibilities of 3D printing?
3D printing is nothing new, since Charles Hull patented stereolithography in 1986, but it is going through the same revolution that occurred when PC’s replaced mainframe computers. With more creative minds in reach of 3D printing, The Buccaneer could mark the point when many more people will make the jump and buy a 3D printer, even if just to experiment with what is to come.
At 100 microns and a printable area of 5.8×3.9×4.7, this printer sure isn’t going to replace your next run to Target. If Pirate 3D can pull off the launch of The Buccaneer (The Buccaneer is still not for sale and plans are to launch a Kickstarter campaign in the next few days), we may soon see a rapid decline in the price of purchasing a 3D printer and the beginning of a revolution.
SOURCE: TechCrunch
