Shenzhen-based company Makeblock, known throughout the DIY community for their mechanical parts and electronics modules, recently released a 400-piece DIY 3D printer kit. Inspired by the demands of the RepRap open-source community, the Makeblock Constructor I is powered by an Arduino Mega 2560 (ATmega2560) microcontroller.
As Makers, many of us are familiar with piecing together 3D printers from kit form; however, maybe not a kit consisting of no less than 400 parts. Aside from the Makeblock machine serving as affordable alternative to other Atmel powered 3D printers, the detailed assembly of the printer offers Makers with DIY education along the way and a sense of accomplishment upon completion.
Once assembled, the printer itself is quite a powerful device featuring an all-aluminium chassis, mounting brackets and various fixtures. It also employs standard 1.75mm PLA filament for builds, and a majority of free 3D printing software suites can be employed for spooling the models to be printed.
According to Makeblock, the kit is quite versatile. “No matter if you are designers, engineers, educators or inventors, you can always bring your ideas to life by printing out objects,” its team shares.
Some of the key specifications include:
- Chassis material: Anodized aluminium
- Dimensions: 324x312x400mm
- Build volume: 125x165x120mm
- Extruder: up to 250°C (482°F) with 0.4mm nozzle
- Horizontal (XY) resolution: 0.1mm
- Layer (Z) resolution: 0.1-0.3mm
- Print material: 1.75mm PLA filament
- Platform: not heated
- Printing speed: 40mm/s nominal, up to 100mm/s
- Actuators: 4 42BYG stepper motors
- Control electronics: Arduino Mega 2560 compatible board, RAMPS 1.4 motor drivers, RepRap smart controller with LCD
- Firmware: Marlin (wiki, GitHub)
- Supported file format: STL
- Software: Slic3r, Printrun, Cura, Kisslicer, MatterControl, Skeinforge
- Connectivity: USB, SD card
- Power requirements: 12VDC/10A, 110-240VAC power adapter include
Interested in learning more? You can check out the Makeblock Constructor I’s official page here.
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