Printrbot, the people’s 3D printer

The latest kitset 3D printer, aims to be the most affordable.

Brook Drumm’s Printrbot is an original 3D Printer using FDM like many other kitset 3D printers such as RepRaps and Makerbots. Printrbot aims to be the simplest and most affordable kitset 3d printer available to home users.

“This all-in-one 3D printer kit can be assembled and printing in a couple of hours.  Other kits will not only take you many more hours to build, they will also have hundreds more parts, and they will cost more.” Says Drumm

Printrbot is rooted in the same philosophy as RepRaps, the project aims to make the majority of components 3D printable and so is expandable on all axes. Printrbot doesn’t sacrifice print quality in its goal of affordability. Currently still under development, Printrbot has demonstrated using what is arguably its most innovative feature – continuous spiral Z-axis printing, so no seam is visible where the Z-axis begins and ends on each layer.

http://vimeo.com/32611948

Like many projects we know and love, Printrbot is starting its life out on Kickstarter. Drumm wants to scale production to ensure that procuring components is far more cost effective, so that savings can be passed on to users.

The kitsets are available from just USD $499 in complete kitset form, from Printrbot’s Kickstarter funding page. The Printrbot’s printed circuit boards come pre-soldered so users do not require any soldering skills to assemble one.

If you are interested in supporting this noble drive of making 3D printers more accessible to just about anyone, please visit Printrbot’s Kickstarter page.

---

David is an industrial designer from New Zealand. He contributes a weekly article on personal fabrication for Ponoko. You can follow him on Twitter