BuildOne - $99 3D Printer - Made by Erik from Digistump

[emardee]

Hey,

Has everyone here seen the $99 3D Printer on kickstarter that Erik from Digistump has just launched?

It was fully funded in 36hours... and is currently 2.3x funded, with 22 days to go!

Thought it would be good to have a thread to discuss it over here, especially as Erik has offered a free PEI baseplate upgrade to Digistump customers (or $15 discount for the more expensive packages that already have the PEI baseplate included).

So what do you guys think of this?

I've chosen to back the project as Erik generally ships what he claims, so has a good track record, and the price looked right! So I'm looking forward to owning my first 3D printer. Particularly interested to see what details emerge for the laser engraver add-on, as that would be awesome too!

Of course, there is always a nervousness around kickstarter projects, and especially so for 3D printers (which have a bad reputation on kickstarter for never shipping!). However, Erik seems to have got things right, by promising that he'll only accept orders for 2000 units for Sept, with any further orders being pushed back to later months.

What do you guys think? Anyone with printer experience have thoughts about this project? How good do you think a $99 3D printer will actually be?

[PeterF]

I'm still a newbie when it comes to 3D printers (even though I have two of them)... and am so tempted to get this one considering Erik is behind it...

I think it's certainly not impossible... I know of another kickstarter startup who will be offering a $99 printer as their second kickstarter project in a month or so, so it certainly looks like they are starting to target the 'less than $200... no wait, less than $100 is better' sweet spot

As long as you don't expect it to be a 'open the box, push a button and objects magically print perfectly' experience then all will be good... all of these printers have their idiosyncrasies and needs lots of TLC and (im)patience, but it's worth it in the end to be able to make your own stuff

[emardee]

Yeah this will be my first 3D printer. I've gone the whole hog.... picked the Ultimate Package (with Digistump discount) and added the LASER! Pretty excited about being able to cut card (even slowly). Would love to be able to make intricate cut fronts on greetings cards etc.

Mike

[PeterF]

Yeah, both of the printers I have (Flux Delta, Kodama Trinus) are multi-module, and have the laser accessories, but I've onluse used the one of the Delta this far. I've done some simple stuff... 'engraving' some timber (which turned out very nice indeed) and also lasering some paper... it smoked, but it burnt in the message I tried... I hadn't thought about using it to try and 'cut' card... might be interesting to try. They just released a vinyl cutter head for the Delta though, so that might be the better way to cut stuff... whether it be card or vinyl... it's basically a short cutty thing that drags along and actually cuts the vinyl.

3D printers are certainly a lot of fun... and can certainly pay off sometimes... someone on a 3D printing forum just posted about their coleman folding tent, and they had a broken hinge-piece... and I think it was in the order of $150 for a replacement part... cheaper to by a new tent... so he used his $200 printer to make the part so just has to make two of them and the printer was free! Take that coleman!