While I’m looking to the Ultimaker (see my previous post for thoughts on the Ultimaker) (now received– time to start assembly!) as my primary go-to, general purpose, home manufacturing device, I was both interested in a second printer as a platform for experimentation and as a secondary printer for when I need to turn out a bunch of stuff.
Because I wasn’t going to be afraid to modify it, I wanted something pretty cheap. The RepRap platform seems pretty interesting, but it also seems semi-fragile (and feedback on various sites indicates that it is harder to keep aligned than others, though I don’t know how true that really is).
Along came the Printrbot Kickstarter project. I ended up funding that at the $424 level. I’ll use the Ultimaker to print all the plastic parts. The Printrbot is really pretty extraordinary. It is an elegantly simple design, has decent precision and, through its simplicity, is extremely customizable.
Also, the Printrbot story and the whole Kickstarter concept is pretty cool and this seemed like a perfect opportunity to jump in and fund something.