3D Printer Has an Eye-Popping Price Tag

Rylan Grayston set out to make the 3D printer a realistic product for the average household. In doing so, he was successful enough to invent his own efficient design that did not sacrifice quality of parts. The Peachy Printer is marketed to be a $100 3D printer with its own unique method of printing.

The Peachy uses a laser beam controlled by two moving mirrors that heats up light sensitive resin until it hardens. These mirrors map out and print the X and Y axes using the sound card in your computer. They send audio recordings that are created by an add-on to Blender coded by Grayston's team. Blender is a free open-source animation and 3D modeling program.

A dripping system of saltwater and an analyzer to record and send information to and from the computer is used to control the water level that the resin floats on to control the Z axis. The resin is raised to meet the laser at the appropriate levels to make all axes complete simultaneously.

Another perk of the printer is that it is also a scanner that allows you to scan an object into the Blender program. The scanning feature uses the laser to send the information of the laser's location on the object to the computer, mapping out the object until the 3D model is complete. A useful way to take advantage of this would be to scan your cell phone and create your own custom case. It would end up costing you about a dollar to print out instead of the average thirty dollars.

The team has a Kickstarter campaign currently in progress for the next 12 days. The goal was to raise $50,000 Canadian dollars, but the current total of money raised to this point is $530,171! If the amount of support they have amassed is reflective at all of the future of this company (they currently have close to 4,000 backers), things are looking just peachy for the Peachy Printer. The highest pledge level does have an "if we succeed or fail" clause, so who knows? The Peachy Printer kits will start shipping in July 2014.

It is an absolute steal at the price! In fact, I am going to buy one!

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