With the coming closing of Pirate3D’s successful Kickstarter campaign there have now been a number of million dollar+ crowd funded 3D printers in the past year. Add to that the numerous smaller, though still substantial, campaigns based off of various open source and proprietary designs and it is easy to think that the future of additive manufacturing may come from a crowd funded design. Here are just a few of the various campaigns that have run on Kickstarter and other financing sites over the past year.
Most Funded (Assembled – Kickstarter): Formlabs Form 1
Most Funded (Kit- Indiegogo): eMaker Huxley 3D Printer
One way to bring down the cost of a high end additive manufacturing machine is to avoid assembling it before selling it. Since many printers are based off of the open source RepRap project it should come as no surprise that a number of campaigns have persued the kit method in order to deliver a low cost product that still is functional. Crowd sourcing a kit is still mroe economical as you can get volume discounts on various parts. These kits service the hobby market of consumers who are eager to assemble and tinker with the final product.
Most Funded (Kit – Kickstarter): OpenBeam Kossel Pro
One of the beauties of a kit system is that the design for assembling the kit parts can be changed. This is part of the philosophy behind the OpenBeam Delta style Kossel Pro. Each of the printer components is designed to serve as a general compoent for various small manufacutiring machines. This is great news for those looking to make something else, but even better news for hobbists who like to tinker and imporve on designs. The recently compoleted campaign includes all of the components required to create a 3D printer that is both elegant and functional.
Most Backers (Consumer Level): Pirate 3D
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your position) the low cost of the Buccaneer 3D Printer allows it to lead the crowd funded printer space for number of backers, while still not being the most funded campaign. Some lucky early backers managed to pick up a reward level of $297 that promises a 3D printer for 360 lucky swashbucklers. With the included software package, designed to make getting to a print easier, the Pirate3D team may have the most comprehensive products in the 3D printer space and with a great price too. Shipping on this item is still nearly 8 months away so backers have a while to wait but established companies have a long ways to go to match the sub $400 printer that was promised in this recent campaign.