The 3D printing industry is changing at a very fast pace. From making prototypes to printing houses and cars, 3D printing has expanded its capability quite a lot in the last few years! If we see the 3D printing industry about two to three years ago we would see that 3D printers were used for trifle jobs like prototyping or replicating objects but now they are being used in the mainstream industries and for mainstream works.
In the past we have seen 3D printers that are capable of printing objects with a large volume but what if there is a requirement for printing small objects like rings, dental molds or any other jewelry. Although these objects can be printed with the help of any normal 3D printer but the catch is that the resolution should be impeccable. So in order to resolve this problem there is a new printer on the block which is known as the LumiPocket 3D printer. It is the smallest portable 3D printer that comes with the assurance of high quality 3D printing experience.
One of the developers of the LumiPocket Marin Davide said, “Last year we developed the first foldable and portable 3D printer, the LumiFold. Now we are a startup and we just launched a new improved version, the Lumipocket, more precise, easier to use and with a design made in collaboration with design experts. It is designed to be low cost and easy to use.”
In order to raise money for the project Davide and his team went for help to the famous crowdfunding site Indiegogo campaign. The goal for the campaign was fixed at $50, 000; the campaign will be on air till November 18th, 2014. The team has decided to give away their new LumiPocket free to all the early supporters to the campaign.
Here are some specifications of this machine:
- Z resolution of 50/100 micron
- 50 / 100 x and y resolution depending on the projector used
- 100mm diameter and 100mm tall building area
- Tested with SpotGP and Fun To Do resins
- Ideal layer times 3000ms-8000ms
The company bets that the LumiPocket is the most user friendly and ready to use 3D printer that has ever come up in the market. All that the user has to do is load the .STL file into their software and click on the print button. The software itself is quite self- sufficient it can take care of slicing, GCode creation and all the other features. The software has 3D printable templates that anyone can modify and use.
The Indiegogo site has many level for backers, they range from $25 to $799. The company is also offering its first 20 backers with sans projector (fully assembled) worth $379. Once the first 20 sell out the rest of the items shoot up to $399 for the assembled version and the unassembled version comes for $379. For the price of $429 one can buy their own customized LumiPocket with the name of the owner and the logo of the company inscribed on the machine.
The printer is expected to do well as there is a high demand for DLP 3D printers in the market. Hopefully the printer will fare well in the existing 3D printing market.
Source: http://3dprint.com/17868/lumipocket-dlp-3d-printer/
