3D printers are getting leaner and smarter day by day. Earlier these machines were being manufactured as being large and bulky and were meant to stay in one place. But as we all know change is the only constant thing in this universe. The term desktop is being removed from 3D printers and they are all set to go portable!
The very first printer which was released in this lot of portable printers was Lumifold then the Tobeca followed by Bukito. Among the most recent ones is the Portabee GO which has come out of Singapore. The Portabee Go 3D printer has been manufactured by a Singaporean company named Portabee. The most attractive feature of this printer is the sleekest printer of the portable printers’ lot. The other feature that attracted our attention was the part that the printer can be folded up making 3D printers portable a reality. The printer was released last October but the company is now ready to take up orders.
Daniel Warner, the business head of Portabee says, “We have our latest mobile 3D printer, the Portabee GO, ready for open orders. “We believe we have a pretty unique 3D printer for 2014. The GO is a truly portable 3D printer with fantastic accuracy. Definitely the only 3D printer so far that can be fold into a satchel, and yet will give a rival to a MakerBot or Ultimaker in print quality. After a rigorous and mentally taxing engineering phase, we are finally ready to bring the GO to market.” He further went on to say, “There is a lot to get right with this little 3D printer, the gantry is free hovering, auto-leveling and the folding mechanism took a lot of effort to conquer also, the unfolding process requires a bit of a trick, however once you know how it works, you can unfold in around 10 seconds.”
Technical specifications of Portabee 3D printer:
· Technology:Fused Filament Fabrication Thermoplastic Extrusion
· Build Volume: XYZ: 12cm x 16cm x 12cm (2304 CM ³/ 139 IN ³)
· Print Nozzle: 0.35 MM
· Layer Accuracy: 50 Micron/ 0.05 MM
- Layer Thickness: 0.1mm
- Wall Thickness: 0.48mm
- Folded Dimensions: XYZ : 20.8cm x 22.5cm x 7.9cm
- Deployed Dimension: XYZ : 208mm x 225mm x 277mm
- Build Materials: PLA (Polylactic acid)
The DIY for assembling this printer is very simple all the user needs to do is plug it in and load some GCode. The rest is taken care of by the auto leveling sequence and in no time the printer will be all set to take print outs. The price of the printer is also very commendable $595. The company is already taking in orders. The orders can be placed on the company’s website.
The most incredible part of the printer is that with the given volume, the printer can be folded into a rectangular box. Companies like MakerBot should now make some serious changes in their machines so that their dominance in this business can be maintained.
Image Source: http://portabee3dprinter.com/
