Tag: Maker Faire

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LittleRP or LittleDLPer – Affordable Open Source 3D Resin Printer

When someone wants to buy a printer that has a very high level of resolution, the best printer to opt for would be a DLP or a SLA technology printer but the ones that are available in the market nowadays is very expensive. A SLA printer named Form 1 is currently priced at $3299. So a normal person cannot afford such an expensive printer and has to adjust with something that suits the pocket and for the resolution one has to adjust with a lower resolution. But now times have changed and Brad Hill (aka goopyplastic) hopes to bring about a change in the 3D printing industry.

He has founded a new 3D printer and named it LittleDLPer which is an open source DLP 3D resin printer. The printer uses lasercut materials and standard T-Slot extrusion which makes it possible to make the printer from the scratch. It has high quality components such as linear slides and integrated leadscrew steppers which perk up the reliability of the printer. The print volume of the printer is quite low (xyz: 60x40x100mm). The printer takes approximately 2 minutes to print 1mm at 0.05mm layer height. The price of the LittleDLPer kit will be under $500 and an assembled printer would cost around $1000. Hill plans to flaunt the new machine in the Maker Faire at Kansas City.

Hill said, “For the kit, excluding projector, the Kickstarter price should be just under $500,” explained Hill to 3DPrint.com. “The projector I recommend, runs about $310, however the printer is flexible in that you can re-purpose used DLP’s which can drive the cost down for the builder. For example I was initially using a Dell 2300mp projector that I purchased used off eBay for $95.”

Image Source: littlerp.com

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Print your desired shapes with a universal paste extruder

Once we buy a desktop 3D printer, we’ll always be on a lookout to leverage it the most, for multiple applications. This can be achieved by procuring a variety of print heads, which can accomplish their respective tasks effectively. A universal paste extrude comes in to this category, which allows us to work with most of the viscous/ paste like materials. Most of these paste extruders function using syringe-like devices that can handle more viscous materials for 3D printing.

A promising Universal 3D printing paste extruder called Discov3ry paste extrusion system was unveiled at the Maker Faire by Structr3D. This is a plug-n-play device that can be attached to any existing RepRap-style 3D printer, including Makerbots and Ultimakers and can work with open source software like Slic3r and Repetier. The device also includes a cartridge system that allows for a 60cc supply of paste to be fed to the 3D printer and can be capped off and stored for later use.

A reliable paste extruder can open up multiple new materials like ceramics, silicone, latex, and polyurethane etc used for prototyping more flexible objects, such as gaskets, o-rings, or insoles. The device can help one to experiment with easily sourced materials, like silicone, clay and even cake frosting. You can even experiment with icing sugar for your adventures in the kitchen. The makers of Discov3ry showed it off at the Maker Faire by printing with Nutella and generated quite a bit of excitement.