I’m a huge fan of the DIY laser ablation scene, I have been wanting to put together my own X-Y laser CNC cutter for a long time. Something else that has really come a long way in the last 2-3 years is 3d printing — like a CNC in reverse! Instead of ablating material from something, you are “printing” shapes from a CAD program, which is pretty bad ass if you ask me!
This isn’t particularly about 3D printing, per se, but it is about a 3D printed object — a quite outstanding Instructable by user Mattygyver92 called OpenScope. MattyGyver92 walks us through his process in a particularly awesome Instructable that I had to share.
Side note: Holy sh*t have 3d printers come a long, long way already:
That particular one above is about $500 bucks. This one is $1299. Quite a difference in features and quality, but more than anything, printing size and software:
Below here is the famous Makerbot Replicator. This is a Rolls-Royce quality printer that I have seen in action, and I approve. But, it’s $2500 bucks:
Now, back down in my price range — $449:
About double what I can afford — $889:
Now, in the CRAZY affordable 3d printing game, XYZprinting’s da Vinci Mini, at $274.99:
The Einstart-S at $374.99:
And cheapest in the class of 3d printers I thought were worth a damn, Alunar’s M505 kit at around $267:
Please, if you decide to check out one of these 3d printers, make sure to do your research. What I find is that they don’t differ with respect to price of media, just like the old adage of paper printer toner being as expensive as the freaking printer itself, some of the print media for the 3d printers is some expensive stuff. Do your research! Caveat emptor!
