You-SLS is an inexpensive, open-source SLS 3D printer

---

One Maker has set out to build the cheapest SLS printer on the market. 

---

In recent years, there have been plenty of FDM and SLA printers to emerge on crowdfunding sites, and rightfully so. Given their ease-of-use and affordability, these desktop machines have become the go-to choice for Makers looking to 3D print a project. Though, as great as they may be, users often encounter a number of limitations when it comes to creating overhangs greater than 45 degrees, altering a design on a whim and adding support material.

Meanwhile, selective laser sintering (or SLS) is in a league of its own when it comes to yielding high-quality, high-definition results. These machines avoid the extrusion process entirely, and instead, construct objects by selectively solidifying very fine powder materials of nylon, layer by layer, using a laser. Unfortunately, as incredible as these devices may be, the cheapest SLS printer on the market today is in the ballpark of $180,000.

That was until now. 18-year-old Maker Lukas Hoppe has set out to introduce an SLS 3D printer that packs all of the key elements of those industrial-grade machines without the astronomical price tag. What’s more, it will also be open-source and feature a heated build chamber.

Hoppe admits that he only got into 3D printing about a year ago, but immediately became an advocate of the Atmel driven RepRap movement yet was always tempted by more pricier 3D printers. This got him to thinking: What if there was a way that would combine the open-source principles of a RepRap with the professional quality of SLS devices? And so, the $2,000 You-SLS 3D Printer was born.

As expected, the machine is based on the highly-popular tandem of an Arduino Mega (ATmega2560) and a RAMPS 1.4 board, along with Marlin firmware. However, controlling a SLS machine is a bit more complex than commanding a conventional FDM printer, and so, Hoppe employed another Arduino to drive the recoater. The rest of the You-SLS consists of commonly available parts that make constructing as simple and inexpensive as possible.

What really sets this gadget apart from other SLS printers is its X-Y gantry system, as hardware and software for those systems is readily accessible.

“I decided that it would be best to stick with the Cartesian X-Y system, as the software is hassle free, it allows the use of a standard RAMPS board, which again is very common with open source printers, and the hardware is available all over the world from different suppliers at a low cost,” the Maker adds.

The DIY system will employ a three-way heating system: each of two pistons will be equipped with two 300W heating cartridges and the build chamber will be heated by two optical heaters with independent temperature feedback controls. The laser sintering system itself will revolve around a laser-diode with 2W of power at a wavelength of 445nm.

In order to cool the various lasers, stepper motors and electronic components, the Maker notes that his design moves the lasers outside the hot environment by creating two parts: a lower segment, which contains the two pistons and a recoater, and the upper segment that holds the XY-stage and the laser diode. This way, the hot and the cold parts of the machine are separated.

The You-SLS printer’s outer dimensions are 90cm x 50cm x 55cm, which will make it a welcomed addition to any Makerspace workbench. And with a print bed of about 20cm x 15cm x 10cm in size, this allows larger parts to be printed diagonally and for jet small parts to be created without using too much powder to fill the bed.

Sound like something you’d like? Hurry over to Hoppe’s official Indiegogo page, where the Maker has already surpassed his $1,100 goal.

The Palette turns any 3D printer into a multi-color, multi-material machine

---

One Canadian startup has developed a way to take 3D printing to the next level.

---

Over the past couple of years, there has been an upsurge in the number of 3D printing startups and a slew of new machines. However, as great as many of them are, they all too often share the same limitation: they can only print in one color. That’s where one Montreal, Canada startup comes in. From home projects to complex prototypes, the Mosaic Manufacturing team is hoping to enable Makers to create objects that would otherwise have been way too expensive or inconceivable with conventional printers.

The Palette is a filament feeding system that connects to a single-extruder 3D printer and transforms it into a multi-color gadget, all through the use of a standalone box. This helps avoid the limitations of pricier, bulkier and harder-to-use machines, which require multiple filament nozzles.

What’s nice is that this shoebox-sized accessory, which recently debuted on Kickstarter, provides Makers with the ability to build an unprecedented range of things on the 3D printer that they already own — using up to four colors and a variety of materials. Beyond that, the system eradicates most of the commonly encountered problems associated with regular 3D printers, such as dripping and build size constraints.

“If you can use a 3D printer, you can build high quality color creations with The Palette. You can skip the upgrade cycle of buying an expensive printer, keep using your favorite slicer, and use whatever filament supplier you want,” the team notes.

Generally speaking, FDM 3D printers run off of plastic filament and the color of the material determines the color of the extruded object. Not anymore! Thanks to The Palette, users can take four filament inputs and combine them together into a single filament output. The device isn’t just limited to extending the possibilities of colors either; instead, given the wave of new filaments, the standalone system allows Makers to use many of today’s most exotic filaments — whether that’s carbon fiber, wood, stainless steel or a conductive material.

“Everything is done automatically, from the order of the filaments, to their exact length, to make sure every color shows up exactly where it should,” the team adds. “All you have to do is go through the simple setup sequence and print like you normally would!”

To appeal to the diverse landscape of today’s machines, The Palette is configured to function with just about any brand of FDM 3D printer that runs on G-Code/X3G and uses the typical 1.75 mm filament. Simply plug it in, and it’s ready to go. What’s more, it doesn’t require any modifications, wiring or hardware changes, and is cross-platform compatible.

Based on an ATmega2560 MCU, the device is driven by seven NEMA 17 stepper motors, is compatible with Windows, Mac and Linux, and features both an SD card interface and USB connection. The Mosaic Manufacturing crew also went the extra mile by employing open-source firmware and software. This not only makes it DIY-friendly, but lets The Palette fit nicely within the collaborative ecosystem that is fueling the 3D printing community.

The Palette’s software works with existing multi-extruder slicers on the market as well. A user starts by configuring their slicer to prepare a four extruder print and assigns each extruder to the appropriate .stl files. From there, they slice the parts and create four extruder .gcode. Using Mosaic’s accompanying app, this .gcode is then processed to make it ready for a single extruder printer.

“Printing isn’t a perfect science, so we created a feedback loop to ensure The Palette and your printer are always on the same page. Mosaic’s app inputs a series of checkpoints into the .gcode/.x3g file. The Palette reads these checkpoints, and if the buffer is shifting, the Palette makes adjustments to the upcoming lengths of filament to ensure every piece of filament goes back to being perfectly synced,” they explain.

The Palette truly represents a giant step forward for Makers, as we continue to inch closer to an era of ubiquitous consumer 3D printing. Sound like something you or your Makerspace would love to have? Head over to its official Kickstarter page, where the team has already well-exceeded its initial goal of $75,000. Shipment to early bird backers is slated for December 2015, while regular delivery is expected to begin in January 2016. (Not to be bias or anything, but the team admitted to following along with our blog regularly and “would have loved to to be covered,” so a little extra promotion is in store for these guys!)

Printrbot Play will be a $399 fully-assembled 3D printer for Makers

---

Printbrot CEO Brook Drumm gives a sneak peek at the soon-to-be-launched Printrbot Play. 

---

Just the other day, Printbrot’s CEO Brook Drumm unveiled their new 3D printer, the Printrbot Play. The latest device will be a fully-assembled, easy-to-use FDM 3D printer featuring a build envelope of 100mm x 100mm x 130mm, a full metal chassis and a MIC6 aluminum print bed.

Coming soon….. Printrbot Play. $399 assembled. 100x100x130mm. Metal construction. Mic6 Alu bed. #printrbot pic.twitter.com/QdJDemtf3X

— Printrbot (@printrbot) April 16, 2015

In recent years, Printrbot has become well-known throughout the Maker community for its affordable plywood 3D printer kits, while the company’s first all-metal printer — the aptly-named Metal Simple — was introduced back in February. This unit was made of an aluminum and steel frame, powder-coated in an attractive red color, and was slightly larger than its laser-cut wooden sibling, the Printrbot Simple.

Comparatively speaking, the soon-to-launch Play will be a bit smaller than the Metal Simple, whose build area was able to  support up to 150mm x 150mm x 150mm. This machine, which will most likely also be based on an Printrboard Rev F (AT90USB1286), will replace the Simple Makers kit, and serve as an introductory machine for the DIY crowd. Even better, the 3D printer will be priced just under $400.

As we await its big debut, the team has offered a quick video sneak peek of the Printrbot Play. See it below!

Disney Research creates a 3D printer that can print in fabric

---

A new form of 3D printing technology can make embeddedable, plush toys.

---

3D printing has grown leaps and bounds over the last couple of years, not only in terms of the gadgets themselves, but the filaments they are capable of extruding as well. Still though, most consumer-grade 3D printers only construct objects comprised of rigid and hard materials (like plastics, ceramics or metal) fused together. That was until now. A group of researchers from Disney, Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon University have recently developed a new 3D printing technique that creates items out of layers of felt.

“Consumers increasingly prefer high quality and beautiful bespoke objects, as evidenced by the success of websites such as Etsy,” the team elaborates upon the inspiration of the project. “However, these websites typically require individual craftspeople to produce such objects by hand. New additive manufacturing technologies (more commonly known as 3D printing) provide an opportunity to manufacture highly custom objects on demand.”

The so-called Layered Fabric 3D Printer works along principles similar to those used in polymer deposition. A 3D model is broken down into slices, which are translated into the printer. This is where the two techniques diverge. Rather than being laid down by an extruder nozzle, this method uses a laser to cut the outline of each layer from a roll of heat-activated adhesive fabric that correspond to the sliced layers. The fabric is fed to the bottom face of the bed by rollers mounted to the sides, and held in place by a vacuum during cutting. This layer is then transferred onto the printer’s build platform, where it is activated by a warm disc on the machine’s print head. This process is then repeated until the object is fully “printed,” whereupon completion, the result is a block-like figure that is manually peeled, revealing a soft and flexible layered object.

The printer is also multi-material, and can automatically integrate two types of fabric into a single print. Meaning, conductive fabric can be embedded in a print to create a capacitive touch input or electric circuit paths. “For example, objects with printed ‘wiring’ can be constructed using conductive fabric. This ‘wiring’ is completely flexible since it is formed with, and entirely embedded inside of, fabric sheets,” the team adds. “We have used this capability in several proof-of-concept demonstration objects including a soft cell phone case which contains a printed fabric coil capable of harvesting power from the NFC hardware of an off-the-shelf cell phone.”

By using conductive fabric as one of their material feeds, the researchers were able to make custom-printed capacitive sensors as a part of a normal print, including a touch-enabled necklace pendent in the form of a soft starfish connected to an Arduino Lilypad (ATmega328) and a capacitive sensor configured as a slider linked to an off-the-shelf Teensy MCU.

Much like a number of other traditional printers available today, the Layered Fabric 3D Printer is powered by an Arduino Mega 2560 (ATmega2560) driving a RAMPS 1.4 control board with Repetier firmware. On the software side, the project employs Repetier-Host v0.95 with no modification and Slic3r v1.1.7. The build volume for the current prototype is 10” x 10” x 10”, though the team does note that larger-sized devices could be easily constructed using this same design.

To first test out its approach of crafting on-demand plush toys, the team constructed a 2.5-inch Stanford bunny in roughly two and a half hours. Interestingly enough, unlike conventional printers where printing and filling the model are the most laborious parts, with this machine, movement of the bonding platform and the bonding steps consume the most time.

“It consists of 32 layers of acrylic felt fabric resulting in a 64mm high final product. Despite the relatively thick 2mm felt used in the print, it preserved most of the details in the underlying 3D digital model like the nose and ears. Also notice the relatively com- plex overhanging shape in the ears of the bunny. Because of the cutting strategy we used, fabric from the bounding box area of the previous layer serves as support for overhangs, including very small and sharply overhung features such as these.”

When all is said and done, the researchers are looking to usher in a new way of layer-based 3D fabric printing that can form precise, yet soft and deformable 3D objects from rolls of off-the-shelf fabric. As TechCrunch notes, “It’s as much a laser cutter as it is a 3D printer.” Nevertheless, it’s still extremely cool — and AVR powered!

Want to learn more? You can read the entire paper from Disney Research, Cornell University and Carnegie Mellon here.

Tiko is the $179 “unibody” 3D printer you’ve always wanted

---

This 3D printer is setting a new standard for design and price.

---

Given the rise of the Maker Movement, it’s not unusual to hear about a new 3D printer making its debut on Kickstarter. However, when that 3D printer aspires to change up the game, it’s certainly worth noting. Tiko is a budget-friendly, Delta-style 3D printer that has set out to establish a new standard for design at a minimal cost, all without sacrificing the quality. Taking into consideration the complications often experienced in other devices, the machine sought out to rid these by using an enclosed “unibody” chassis with pre-aligned beams on the inside of its frame.

The printer is equipped with three sets of arms that move in unison to control the movement of the print head. It supports an array of printing materials including the usual PLA, ABS and nylon, as well as boasts a print resolution that goes down to just 50 microns. Other notable specs include a print volume of 138.3 cubic inches and a maximum nozzle temperature of 250° C.

Tiko also features a unique liquefier that can extrude PLA plastic without active cooling, and replaces expensive and loud fans with heat vents. Not only does it allow Makers, engineers and designers to print large objects, they can remove them just as easily. Its print bed is completely flexible, so once a job is done, a user simply has to lift the printer off the bed and twist to pop off the print.

The surprisingly lightweight machine is extremely portable, while its sleek design will make it a welcomed addition to any countertop. With mobility in mind, the Niagara Falls-based startup ensured connectivity played an integral role as well. The team explains, “Wires are so 1996. Connect Tiko to the cloud, and you can print from almost anywhere, even from your smartphone. No Wi-Fi? Tiko makes its own wireless access point so you can print directly, too.”

Not only can Tiko run off of the cloud, it doesn’t have any USB ports for connecting files to the 3D printer either. Beyond that, the device can even measure its own performance, and with permission, utilize that data to help improve the gadget and the overall user experience.

• Printer size: 15.4″ x 8.7” x 9.3″
• Printer weight: 3.7lbs
• Print volume: 138.3 cubic inches
• Filament type: PLA, ABS, HIPS, nylon (1.75mm)
• Layer resolution: 50-250 microns

Sound like a printer you’d love to have? Hurry over to its official Kickstarter page, where the team has already well exceeded its initial goal of $100,000.

Maker creates a super fast, continuous SLA 3D printer

---

This super fast DIY 3D printer may one day take on the likes of Carbon3D.

---

Just the other week, Carbon3D unveiled a groundbreaking new 3D printing process, which is being billed as anywhere between 25 and 100 times faster than machines on the market today. Hot on the heels of this big announcement, 3DPrint.com has brought to our attention another super speedy SLA 3D printer. The difference? It stems from the Maker community, more specifically, a University of Buffalo industrial engineering student named Bo Pang.

While it shares a number of features with Carbon3D, one noticeable difference is that the device uses an oxygen-permeable window to create a thin layer of uncured resin between the window and the object.

“This dead zone guarantees the part can grow without stopping, and this is the key to the CLIP process. For our machine, we don’t use that oxygen-permeable window, but we instead use a special membrane to create that thin layer of uncured resin. There are 2 advantages of this special membrane,” Pang explains. “First, this membrane is much less expensive than the oxygen-permeable window, as it only costs about 1/100 of the price of the oxygen-permeable window. Second, this membrane is very easy to mold, meaning we can make this membrane almost any shape we want.”

Despite having a relatively small build volume, the DIY device is capable of printing with an XY axis resolution of 15 microns and a Z-axis resolution of 10 microns. As the Maker showed 3DPrint.com, he was able to create a mini replica of the Eiffel Tower measuring 10mm x 10mm x 20 mm in just over seven minutes, not to mention a larger one (40mm x 40mm x 100mm) in 12 minutes.

Still a work in progress, Pang notes that the SLA 3D printer’s build volume can be expanded with some minor calibration. Intrigued? You can read all about the project on its initial write-up here.

Modding a post-WWII Craftsman table saw into a fully-functioning 3D printer

---

Boy, would our grandfathers have loved to see this!

---

While 3D printing’s roots only date back to the 1980s, do you ever wonder what an additive manufacturing machine would’ve looked like had the processing power of today been available 70 years ago? Fortunately, Maker Chad Bridgewater has given us at least a faint idea.

The Maker recently took the shell of a post-WWII Craftsman table saw and modded it with modern-day technologies to create a fully-functional 3D printer. As you can expect, the antiquated piece of equipment that he had bought for $5 at a tag sale no longer worked as its motor was shot. So, Bridgewater decided to gut the entire thing and house a set of electronics inside the machine’s original motor casing.

At the internal base of its shell, the Maker bolted together a set of laser-cut panels that would hold its components, which consisted of an LCD screen, a power supply, an SD card slot, an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) and an Arduino shield. He then disassembled the stepper motors and powder coated them white, and used a 1941 lathe to machine pulley shafts, aluminum spacers, and motor shaft extensions.

Sure, the Maker could’ve stopped there. However, channeling his inner DIY spirit, he decided to go on by retrofitting the old post-WWII Craftsman table saw into a working laser engraver.

To accomplish this, Bridgewater employed a Mr. Beam Shield on top of an Arduino Uno (ATmega328) and hooked up the device’s 16 x2 LCD screen to a Raspberry Pi B. Once again, a 1941 lathe was used to machine steel and aluminum spacers, motor shaft extensions and pulley shafts. Finally, the Z-axis is controlled manually by a rotary encoder, which is mounted to the original chromed blade adjustment knob on the unit’s front panel.

Want to learn more? Head over to the project’s official page here.

Maker builds a DIY SLA 3D printer for less than $30

---

This SLA 3D printer can be created using materials found throughout your home — and an Arduino.

---

Although many 3D printers strive for simplicity and affordability, this one surely takes the cake. Whereas a device under $500 may catch your attention, one that costs less than a Saturday night dinner surely will hold it. Buildyourownsla.com user “Mystamo” recently created a DIY SLA 3D printer for less than $30 that prints from the top-down or bottom-up, all powered through an Arduino Uno (ATmega328).

SLA typically features a bottom-up style due to issues like the need for more resin and layer height control. A projector or laser diode sits underneath the resin tank with transparent bottom and a non-stick surface, pointing upwards to cure the resin.

For his build, Mystamo had taken his top-down device and wanted to test as to whether it would work with his ACER 5360 720P projector for a bottom-up design as well. After some investigation, the projector was indeed suitable for the job without requiring much further customization other than removing its focus screw for manipulating the focus wheel and a little fine-tuning of the focus.

The Maker reveals that since he didn’t have Z-axis limits, he set the build plate just slightly above the resin surface with some resin pointing out of the his perf board holes. Mystamo acquired an inexpensive stepper drive that was soldered directly to the pin, and added a few connectors for easy removal. It also runs at 1/16 micro stepping. Beyond that, he refined his 3D printer by employing the Arduino to run a very simple HTL code with only minor modifications.

From there, the 3D printing process was ready to begin with 8-second exposures on the first three layers, and 2.5 second exposures on all other layers, all at 0.05mm per layer. While this particular design doesn’t use any 3D-printed parts itself, it still embodies true DIY spirit as the entire thing was devised using items found around the house. And in case you’re wondering, yes it works, as seen with his latest print: a Terminator skull.

Intrigued? Learn more by heading over to the Maker’s forum post here.

BoXZY is a triple-threat tool that brings an entire Makerspace to your desk

---

BoXZY is an all-in-one CNC mill, laser engraver and 3D printer. 

---

We’ve seen plenty of 3D printers. We’ve seen a number of CNC mills. We’ve seen countless laser engravers. Yet, a combination of all three is a much rarer sight. Developed by two brothers from Pittsburgh, Joel and Justin Johnson, their recently-revealed machine is shaping up to be a multi-purpose masterpiece that will appeal to both beginners and experienced Makers alike. The BoXZY has been developed to serve as a complete desktop manufacturing space, rather than just a 3D printer with some additional options.

“We refer to it as a desktop manufacturing space. While the system is user friendly, its capabilities are much more precise than consumer models currently on the market. But the key differentiator for BoXZY is its interchangeability,” the duo explains.

In essence, BoXZY is a dual-extruder FDM 3D printer that can be quickly interchanged with a solid 1¼ horsepower Makita router, transforming the machine into a powerful CNC mill or a laser etcher in a moments notice. Using these heads, any Maker can craft a block of aluminum, hardwood or plastic into more complex designs. The whole operation is housed inside a solid aluminum body, and assembled with stainless steel hardware to ensure its stability and durability throughout all applications.

Moreover, the triple-threat tool is designed to be completely modular and hackable — something Makers of any level will appreciate. To power up and create its four micron resolution, BoXZY drives all three axes with industrial ballscrews, which are firmly situated in its sleek, black anodized aluminum body.

As a CNC mill, BoXZY can handle intricate shapes in all kinds of materials. To get started, users simply pull off the magnetically coupled 3D print platform to expose the pre-drilled fixture plate and attach their spoil board, fixture plate or clamps. Additionally, BoXZY boasts a 2000mW laser engraver that slices through balsa and other thin woods eagerly, and will put finishing touches on hardwood, leather and plastic with incredible precision.

And when it comes to 3D printing, BoXZY is billed as a top-tier device as it complements its mill and laser perfectly. Indeed, Makers can easily and accurately print complex shapes with fine detail using a wide-range of filaments like PLA, ABS, PVA, Ninja-flex, ABS, and even nylon. All together, anyone can now devise shapes that would have otherwise been impossible from other forms of manufacturing.

What’s more, Makers can CNC mill, laser engrave and 3D print without ever leaving the control software. That’s because BoXZY utilizes a simple, intuitive interface that caters to everyone from novices to pros. For milling, BoXZY uses AutoDesk’s 123D toolpath generation, and can execute G-code created by most commercial CAM programs.

Interested? Head over to its Kickstarter campaign, where the duo is currently seeking $50,000. If all goes well, units will begin shipping in November 2015.

RenderBot is a DIY 3D printer with a focus on quality

---

RenderBot is a high-quality, inexpensive and easy-to-build 3D printer for Makers of any level.

---

It’s no secret that new, do-it-yourself 3D printers are a dime a dozen these days. Yet, it seems like a majority of these kits are designed with the goal of packing as many components into the machine as humanly possible, while still maintaining a low-cost and compact form factor. In reality, this leads to a device with limited capabilities and a number of malfunctioning parts, which ends up costing you a lot of more money in the long run. After experiencing the aforementioned problems first-hand with a variety of crowdfunding printers, one Springfield, Illinois startup has set out to change that trend with their RenderBot. This DIY 3D printer kit is not only inexpensive and easy-to-assemble, but more importantly, was created with superior quality in mind.

Tailored to both novice and advanced Makers alike, the RenderBot comes with a completely genuine, all-metal E3D hotend right from the start. This provides users with the durability and flexibility necessary to print with any plastic filament currently available. In addition, the printer is based on an RAMBo controller board (ATmega2560/ATmega32U2), which enables users to upgrade their printer at a later date should they want to add on non-essential components such as a heated bed, an LCD, a dual-extruder or an external temperature sensor.

“This printer is easy to assemble as well. With most printers, wires are difficult to work with. Once they are attached, you have to disassemble the entire machine to rework them. The motors on the RenderBot are all detachable from their wiring, which makes it incredibly easy to install them without having to worry where their wires go ahead of time. Once you are ready, you just plug one end into the motors and the other end into the controller board,” the team writes.

RenderBot is comprised of a sturdy steel frame in the form of two connected right triangles. This allows for the front of the printer to be relatively transparent and easily accessible for part retrieval and inspection. What’s more, users will never have to reach into the device or bend over to see the progress of a print.

• Printer size: 14.5″ x 16.5” x 17.5″ (422mm x 367mm x 448mm)
• Build volume: 10” x 10″ x 10″ (254mm x 254mm x 254mm)
• Layer resolution: 0.32mm – 0.2mm
• Print speed: Stable at 60mm/seconds (can go higher)
• Filament type: ABS, PLA, nylon, flexible, wood, ceramic, bronze, polycarbonate, HDPE, PVA (1.75mm)

Interested in a RenderBot for yourself? The printer currently comes in one of three different ways, either as a standard kit, an easy kit upgrade or fully-assembled. Head over to its official Kickstarter page here, where the team is currently seeking $65,000. Pending all goes to plan, shipment is slated to begin in June 2015. (And we’ll have to admit, between smashing objects and lighting things on fire, we couldn’t help but watch the entire crowdfunding video!)