Deltaprintr A Simple Affordable 3D Printer?

The Deltaprintr, cheap option of those wanting a 3D printer

University student Shai Schechter of SUNY Purchase University in New York, had enough of not being able to have access to an affordable 3D printer he did the next best thing he designed his own. Upset that the 3D printers at his school were too expensive to run, with about $500 for a bucket of powder to use on their printers that would only last for about two or more prints. He and a business partner lunched a Kickstarter campaign aimed at bringing their low cost 3D printer design to the masses. Their project on Kickstarter nearly sold out of pre-orders in the first week alone.

With the help of his sculpture professor and three friends they designed the Deltaprintr, which at $475 un-assembled or $685 assembled is defintely a lot cheaper than the latest MakerBot 3D printer which sells for $2000. The Deltaprintr comes in 2 sizes large being 2 feet high or the extra large which is 2.5 feet high for $705. Schecter said about his design;

“We are targeting educational institutions first so people can learn how to assemble them. When you buy a MakerBot and you read the manual about how to use it, you don’t really learn a lot about how the printer and the technology works. This is why we are offering the assembly manual on Kickstarter too, we really want people to really get their hands on it”.

The Deltaprintr will use three stepper motors, which are located under the acrylic printing platform. The motors control the carriages that move the hot end of the printer and in turn create the 3D-printed objects. With the Deltaprintr not requiring as many parts as other 3D printers on the market, the savings are passed on to the consumers. Unlike the MakerBot Printers which use belts to move the print head, the Deltaprintr uses fishing line which can be used to expand the printer to make it taller if the user likes by simply changing the aluminum rods. This will also allow the Deltaprintr to go faster and be more accurate than the MarkerBot Printers.

With more and more viable options becoming available in the world of 3D printing the Deltaprintr is setting itself apart from the competition, although the team is mainly focusing on releasing the product as an education tool, anyone would be able to benefit from the cheap price tag and ease of use of the Delatprintr.

The Deltaprintr in all it’s glory

Thank you Mashable for providing us with this information.

Image courtesy of The Sydney Morning Herald.