Story Tech

Insert Coin: DeltaMaker fuses razzle-dazzle with 3D-printing

As reported on Engadget.

By Steve Dent

In Insert Coin, we look at an exciting new tech project that requires funding before it can hit production. If you’d like to pitch a project, please send us a tipwith “Insert Coin” as the subject line.

Insert Coin DeltaMaker 3D printer

“Why should a 3D printer look like a microwave oven?” That’s the question being posed by the DeltaMaker Kickstarter project team, which thinks it can put some showbiz into 3D printing using a so-called delta robot platform. That type of design uses three parallel arms to control the print head, enabling a device that’s not only “fun to watch,” according to the group, but that can also quickly print high resolution objects with a large 9-inch by 11-inch build envelope. The open-cage printer will work using “fused filament fabrication” with 1.75mm filament, and will also feature 100 micron layer resolution (0.1 millimeter), rigid aluminum construction, an open-source software tool chain and optional heated build platform. The company sees it putting on a 3D printing show in “living rooms, waiting rooms, and classrooms,” with a current Kickstarter price between $1,400 and $1,600, depending on how soon you pony up. After five days, the project is nearly halfway to its $107k goal, with backers having already snapped up early deals as cheap as $500. Check the video after the break to see how it works, or hit the source to pledge.

[Thanks, Jake]

 

 

Previous project update: The Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner might be long of name but it’s not short of funds, having shot way past its $50,000 goal to the tune of $205k with a week still left, netting the first stretch goal — meaning backers will also get a free “leporello” accordion photo album.