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Creating a 3D printer for under $100

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Tarkun Gelstronic has created a 3D printer for under $100.

Aptly dubbed the Poor Man’s 3D Printer, the device includes a heat bed and is capable of printing with multiple materials.

Key components purchased by Gelstronic include:

As 3DPrint’s Monica Aderholt notes, one of the major ways Gelstronic was able to keep the price so low was by recycling old computer and printer parts.

“Tarkun obtained four stepper motors from old DVD and Blu-ray drives, a power supply from an old PC, a NEMA 17-like stepper motor from an old printer and a modified gear from an old Hewlett Packard printer, which was used for the bowden extruder,” Aderholt explains.

“Of course, he had to use a bunch of screws, washers, nuts, wires, etc., but these were things that he and a lot of people would have lying around in their garages. For the frame of the printer, he did cheat slightly, and used some aluminum sheet metal that he had lying around. However, he points out that this could be replaced with wood.”

All told, Tarken ended up spending only 49 Euros, or approximately $67 on all purchased items, which isn’t bad for a 3D printer that offers the following features:

  • Fused deposition modeling ABS/PLA
  • Heat bed
  • Use of open source firmware – a modified version of Tonokip
  • Free host software, Repetier-Host
  • Bowden-extruder
  • Max. build size 40mm x 40mm x 40mm
  • Resolution 0.08mm

Interested in learning more? You can check out the project’s Instructables page here.