The worlds smallest, quietest, and least expensive 3D printer is trying to become a full fledged product on Kickstarter. The resin printer is 3lbs and a diminutive 4″x3″x8″ in size.
The iBox Nano is 10 days away from completing its Kickstater campaign, and is currently at $288,752 of a $300,000 goal. The 3D printer takes things to a whole new level, offering a very affordable printer that is a very small size. The early bird price was $189, which is a pretty amazing price for a 3D Printer. The current lowest price that the printer is offered at is $269, which is still a great deal. These printers use liquid resin as the printing medium which is cured by a UV led. The Build area for the iBox Nano is 40mmx20mmx90mm which is pretty small but it will still allow for printing some truly unique items.
The iBox Nano is constructed out of laser cut acrylic and houses the printer and the Raspberry Pi that controls it. The claimed noise level is an impressive 29db which should be near ambient levels wherever it would be used. The biggest surprise is that the printer can be used by any device that has a browser, via Wi-Fi or Ethernet. This means the user can use whatever OS that they have, which is one of the other novel items about this device. The printer will be very economical to print with since most items that it will print would likely use a low volume of resin. There are various aftermarket UV-curable resin that could be used to allow the user to change colors to their preference and even use more durable. This could be used with castable resin to make some interesting jewelry or other metal items.
If the Kickstarter can reach its funding goal within the next 10 days these are sure to shake things up with what is possible for 3D printers. This looks like an ideal purchase for those who want to try out 3D printing but are not comfortable with the initial cost of decent full sized printers. It also seems to be that it could be a good purchase for those who want to use 3D printing in their teachings, but need to have something that is affordable as well.
