

The Micro - gk1
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/m3d/the-micro-the-first-truly-consumer-3d-printer?ref=sidebar

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scoofy
I have a 3D printer and am involved in the industry (bld3r.com), and i look at
this and it looks good but not particularly impressive. My main issues when
looking at this are:

1\. Size: that thing looks absolutely tiny. I don't think a 3d printer counts
as viable when the largest thing you can print is a espresso cup or a shower
hook. Maybe some people are in the market for this, but not me.

2\. Weight: Saying you make it light is okay, but i'd be concerned that it may
be light enough to wobble itself around your desk.

3\. We build our own software for you!: I'm skeptical. Looks like we are going
to get proprietary slicing software to attempt to lock users into the brand.
Not horrible, just disappointing. An awesome open source slicing program seems
better than 5 dozen mediocre proprietary ones.

All in all, good on these guys for getting out there and making something
cool. I really don't want to be a negative nancy, because they are out there
actually building things when others just talk a lot, but i'll wait and see it
first.

~~~
waterlesscloud
Hmm. Particularly regarding #1.

Isn't that enough for a very large number of practical applications?

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Frozenlock
Having a 3d printer (a Makerbot), the first thing I want to see in another one
is the resolution. However, in all of these pictures the printed object is out
of focus or just too far to see it clearly. (Is it on purpose?)

Then I want to see the speed. A time lapse doesn't do it.

The 15 "innovations"... I would try to emphasize the 3-5 most important. The
other ones are... how would I put it... this is the kind of stuff I would have
put in a school work just to take up some space:

8\. Bold colors. Choose from Silver, Black, Blue, RedOrange, and Green. 9\.
New filament materials like Chameleon PLA. 10\. Inspirational Micro filament
spools. -----> __Inspirational? __Really? 11\. Modernized touch-capable
software. 12\. Replaceable print beds for alternative materials. 13\.
Replaceable nozzles for experimenters. 14\. Designed for fast assembly in the
US for quality control. 15\. An ABS-based print bed allows you to print larger
ABS parts.

Another random thought: The art team is almost as big as the dev team... wtf?

~~~
anigbrowl
I agree with everything except your criticism of the art team. Product design
matters a lot.

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rkuykendall-com
A year ago, when the last sub-500 "3D Printer that Everyone can use!" made 1.5
million dollars on KickStarter [1], I predicted that the next even-more-
affordable printer would be kickstarted before that one could even ship.

Well, looks like I was wrong, but only by a few months. And this new one, only
$100 cheaper, is already at 1,400% of it's goal. So now the only question is,
how long until the $300 "First truly TRULY consumer 3D printer" makes a
million on KickStarter?

[1] [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pirate3d/the-
buccaneer-...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/pirate3d/the-buccaneer-
the-3d-printer-that-everyone-can-use)

~~~
archivator
Well, actually, I did back up these guys -
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/117421627/the-peachy-
pr...](https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/117421627/the-peachy-printer-the-
first-100-3d-printer-and-sc)

It's a laser-based solution, they're a small and lean team, their software is
a Blender plugin and they sound competent. Also, did I mention the lasers?

What I'm saying is that you were right.

~~~
Inversechi
This looks like a totally different approach to 3D printing! I'll be
interested in seeing how this project pans out.

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sadfnjksdf
I'm really excited about a low cost, quality 3D printer but:

1\. How much is another spool once the kickstarter is over?

2\. "In addition, when making the specification for the seamless frame of The
Micro, we demanded only the best quality surface finish."

I don't understand. If the point is to be at a reasonable price point, why
make a point of saying you are picky about design? I would understand print
quality, but exterior design I could give a rat's ass about- a low quality
printer would go into the closet or on the craft table, not proudly displayed
for all.

~~~
w-ll
You can get a 1kg spool of PLA or ABS on Amazon for ~$30. There are also
various of online distributors that carry more brands/colors.

Can't speak too much on 2, but my guess is just marketing kickstarter
buzzwording.

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hardwaresofton
What a good idea kickstarter was. It still amazes me to this day to see
projects like this get so much funding so quickly. Very jealous of these uber-
successful kickstarter campaigns that seem to be popping up everywhere (though
of course, HN has a little bit of a success-bias).

Glad to see even more competition for the cheapest-3d-printer title, we all
benefit in the end.

Also, I bet HP is going to start snapping up these companies to give itself a
better start on it's late entry into the 3D printer market

~~~
bertil
If I may: it is great to raise money for great projects, but that might not be
the best example…

Kickstart was started for actual project, that is, things that were half-done,
but still had challenges: these guys seem to consider their main remaining
issue is to be choosing the color of the thing… This evolution towards pre-
order is a concern, mainly because pre-order was possible before Kickstarter;
the platform and centralisation of projects is noce, but the real reason
companies like Kickstarter have so much mature projects come at them is
because of the legal void that the site contracts allows them to side-step if
they don't deliver. It might be seen as a progress. I’d rather look at the
numbers and wonder how individual contributors see it, especially past one who
are not active anymore.

On the other side, don’t be jealous: a lot of companies are on Kickstarter's
lists, but not mentioned here, or anywhere and don't raise anything. There is
a reason why Kickstarter sums up money raised, not the success rate. Truth is:
success rate probably should be this low, I would argue lower -- but it’s not
the high-flying life all around.

One personal bias: I see home-based 3D printing as over-hyped. I won't print
Espresso cups, tiny pixelated busts, and my consumption of shower-hooks and
door handles is barely one in a decade and I prefer sturdier things than
plastic melted with steam, especially to sustain a occasionally hot shower.
That bias however is very typical of Kickstarter's successes that tend to
verge on the hyped towards customers: Leap Motion was another good example of
a great idea, amazing on paper that failed to do the heavy work of figuring
out if, how and when it would be practical.

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tailrecursion
I recently read up quite a bit on FDM robots, and in my opinion it would be a
shame to pass up the opportunity to build a robot yourself, and even design
one yourself. The cartesian machines are more or less variations on a theme,
and most use the same set of standard parts: nema 17 motors, acme screw shaft,
linear rods, linear bearings, 608 bearings, and GT2 pulleys and belts.

Check out Misumi's catalog, and you can always roll the dice on shady-Chinese-
company knock-offs (Robotdigg). Look up aluminum t extrusions for framing, or
use sheet or square tube. Or buy a frame from tens of vendors who sell kits
and parts for the Prusa Mendel. I don't like the swing-set Prusa, and I don't
like threaded rods. But there's also the fine Makergear M2 for inspiration.

Electronics and software are also commoditized.

Good kits if you don't want to design your own:

Printrbot Simple Metal Rigidbot (I don't know if they are using the best
parts) many other quality kits

Interesting robots:

Reprap Wally, designed by Dennis Brown & Nick Seward.

3d printers are one area where it is the Wild West, you can go as deep as you
want in one week, and learn almost everything except software details. All the
hardware is nearly standardized, and right out there to look at and study.

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sillysaurus3
Wow. I wonder how long it will take them to fulfill 2,500 orders? And I wonder
if they were expecting such demand? Their kickstarter was only for $50,000.

~~~
bsilvereagle
The Kickstarter was launched today, they raised nearly $700K in one day - they
have 29 left to go!

~~~
subdane
Incredible, they've clearly captured the public's imagination! I wonder what
the tipping points were? My best guess here is consumer device, small form
factor, sub $300

~~~
georgemcbay
I didn't contribute to this (I already have a Prusa i3 reprap) but my guess
would be that it is nearly all about the price.

$300 is just about my impulse purchase price for really sweet "toys", whereas
$500+ feels like real money. If I weren't already "into" 3D printing already
then something at this price may very well have been what convinced me to jump
in just to play around with it.

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bertil
I have many fears: size, definition, how they don't present the risk in the
project, proprietary software have all been mentioned; auto-calibration seems
a bold promise, if necessary; I am positive that ‘use other filaments’ is not
going to end well for most heads.

What I do wonder is that ‘energy saving’ aspect: Yes, 3D printing is
spectacularly wasteful (it's been the elephant in the room since Doctorow’s
Replicators, that conveniently appears after limitless energy -- as if
limitless energy wasn’t the huge industrial revolution) so improvements are
probably easy to do, but… electronics-switching savings? That can only come if
the main consumption, the energy spent to melt the plastic, is reduced. This
means either miracles in thermodynamics (under $200), or the plastic that they
are offering melts at lower temperature.

So I have this question: how likely is it that a cup of such a plastic would
melt if you put boiling water in it? Not a lot of melting, destroying the cup,
or even anything spilling a few carcinogenic molecules in your coffee, no:
just the occasional deformation?

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iamwil
Been involved in 3D printers ([https://cubehero.com](https://cubehero.com)),
and one thing I was hoping for was an automatic ejection mechanism when I
looked at it--as it's sometimes tough to get the print off the print bed.

Overall, 3D printers take a lot of fiddling to get right, and while they hand
wave these problems away in the video. I hope that they actually fix some of
those problems to make it more accessible for everyone.

~~~
benhowes
Makerbot does have a patent on Automated Print Beds [1], which is probably
going to be an issue for companies attempting to 'replicate' it ;). There's
some discussion about the patent here [2].

How's the site going Wil?

[1]:
[http://www.google.com/patents/US8226395](http://www.google.com/patents/US8226395)
[2]:
[https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/makerbot/ikS4bfQy7KM](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/makerbot/ikS4bfQy7KM)

~~~
iamwil
Not bad. It's growing, and people are using it!

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habosa
How does one reliably determine 3D printer accuracy "on paper"? I have used
both a Lulzbot and Makerbot Replicator 2 and the Lulzbot is not half as useful
because the accuracy isn't there. With the LB I have to change my 3D models to
estimate how off the printer will be. With the Makerbot I print exactly what I
want.

What measurements should I look for when buying a 3D printer? Is there any way
to tell how accurate it will be?

~~~
tailrecursion
My understanding is there are a number of things that have to be right. In
addition to rigidity and precision of the machine itself (bushing quality, rod
runout), the speed, layer height, temperature, and filament regularity are all
important to quality. There are other software settings that impact quality as
well. Bed leveling in a machine that doesn't have software auto-level is
another big one.

If you know the stepper motor specs you can calculate the resolution. Most
motors are 1.8 degrees per step and most controllers use 16 micro steps. If
the GT2 pulley is 10 mm diameter, that gives 0.01 mm per micro-step.

If the machine is not rigid and precise then you won't get full capability but
0.01 mm is very good and may be more than needed given the capabilities of the
plastic, and the layering process.

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savrajsingh
I'm sold on the dream, but I bet I'll have to fiddle just a little tiny bit
less than the makerbot. Getting the software to work and the thing to print
correctly is the annoying part. It starts printing ok but halfway through it
snaps and fails fabulously, due to some settings errors particular to what
you're printing. That's the problem. Not sure how these guys will fix that.

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zobzu
auto calibration and small size/quiet etc are all things that are indeed
needed for a "family" printer.

i used several printers, from hobbygrade/self assembled to makerbots etc.
(nothing much above 3k tho), and they all need a lot of fiddling around even
thus they're probably more powerfull (and certainly bigger/make bigger pieces)

I can't see anybody who isn't really into it to spend so much time fiddling
with them. So yeah.. it looks like a good printer to me.

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User8712
Is there anything on the market to melt your printed parts or toys, to create
a new spool of plastic for printing? In short, some type of recycling process
you could do at home.

~~~
fzzzy
Yes.

This isn't the one I remember seeing a few years ago, but I can't remember
what that was, and this is what is coming up for me now when I search for the
concept:

[http://www.filabot.com/](http://www.filabot.com/)

~~~
User8712
Ah, interesting. It looks like they sell a grinder to chop up your old parts,
and then the extruder melts them into a filament.

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tambourine_man
I feel like everything is a bubble these days.

These guys ask for $50,000 and get 3/4 of a million. Or maybe I'm just old.

~~~
clef
Yep, and for the price of 1, you could probably save a life:
[https://watsi.org](https://watsi.org)

People like their toys even if at the other end of the earth people still
don't have food or good health.

~~~
aaimnr
There are many different ways in which 3d printing could save lives, probably
in a more sustainable way than just donating to single person in need. Helping
kickstarter campaign like this to succeed pushes the whole 3d printing market
a little bit further.

