3D Printing is Coming Your Way!

Make no mistake about it. 3D printing is on the way to our desktops.

This blog is being created as a place where we can follow the development of Desktop 3D as news and low cost products are released. Right now, we know about several potential candidates for that desk space now occupied by other, less fun, items.

Among the Build-It-Yourself candidates are the Fab@Home project (www.fabathome.com), RepRap (http://reprap.org). We even have an 'Evil Mad Scientist' creating a 3D printer that relies on sugar as the media! And, I'm sure more are on the way.

But, we'll also be following commercial 3D Printers. Two relatively low-cost 3D printers are nearing their target dates for shipping, Desktop Factory and the V-Flash from 3D systems. Information about both is rather sparse right now. But, we have been able to learn a few facts about the Desktop Factory and have obtained some new images which we will share. The image at the top of the post is the latest avaialable for the Desktop Factory.

We understand that the Desktop Factory is actually going to be introduced at the target price at $4,995. This quickly raised its profile on our radar screen! Initially they stated a range of between $5,000 and $7,500. That savings of $2,500 adds up to a lot of materials for experimentation! We like that.

There is something a bit odd about the image of the Desktop Factory printer that we obtained. The buttons and display just don't seem 'real' enough. And, we'd feel a bit better if there was some loose powder in the chamber. But, we'll take what we can get right now and this is the best we have at the moment.