3D printing machines for home users launch at CES

Kulsoom Middleton | News | Products | 12/01/2012 22:16pm

Engineers and designers have been using 3D printing to create prototypes for years, but now the printers are now being pitched at consumers

3D printing it nothing new, it has been used for over two decades in commercial applications such as product prototyping, but what is new is that the technology is now at the stage where anyone can get a 3D print done. But would you really want to print out a model in the same way that you would print a photo?

New York-based Makerbot Industries and North Carolina-based 3D Systems certainly think so and were present at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week to launch their new consumer-focused devices.

Makerbot’s Replicator is capable of making objects up to the size of a loaf of bread and is being sold for $1,749 (approx. £1,140) for the model with a single extruder, and $1,999 (approx. £1,300) for the ‘Dualstrusion’ variant. (It’s the first device to be able to print two colours at a time).

And veteran 3D printing company, 3D Systems, launched the Cube – its first consumer-focused product, for $1,299 (approx. £850).

These printers are among first to flirt with a consumer-friendly price range and we’ll be putting in an order just as soon as we can scrape a few pennies together!

Read the full story on the BBC website

Posted on Thursday, January 12th, 2012 at 10:16 pm under News, Products. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.