Nearly a year ago, I Kickstarted a project called Eventorbot. It seemed a good project, an open source plan by a young man who had come up with a good design for a stable and easy to build 3D printer. It had some good rewards, and after hearing about some Kickstarter horror stories, they didn’t seem overreaching. The creator also had built a machine, and claimed he also owned an import business. Overall, it seemed to be a good deal, so I put my money in.
Well…
It’s been a few months since anyone has heard from the creator, and even Kickstarter can’t get hold of him. His last few posts were telling us that he needed to order some more parts, and then, nothing. The circumstantial evidence points to some bad parts from China, mainly the frames not being square as they should be. A rigid and square frame is essential for precise printing. If that’s the actual case, we don’t know for certain, but it’s the predominant opinion. We’d all be more forgiving if the creator were more communicative, but he’s most likely terrified of the things that he has promised and can’t deliver.
That’s the past, and a lesson about Kickstarter. Take from it what you will.
When I ordered the parts for the Eventorbot, I didn’t get a full printer. I knew I had some of the parts already, and could source some of the rest for less than the full kit price. So for nearly a year I have had rods, stepper motors, a control board, linear bearings, skate bearings, bolts and nuts, just sitting in a box in my basement.
Until a few days ago.
That is when I discovered the Printrbot Simple. I’ve known about Printrbot for a while now. They did a Kickstarter too, but obviously that one went better on deliveries than the one I was in on. They’ve put out several printers from their first, and the Printrbot Simple is their most recent one.
It’s small, a starter printer at an economy size. The print area is 100mm x 100mm x 100mm, about a 4″ cube for those that still prefer the English units. It prints PLA instead of ABS, and doesn’t have a heated bed. That’s actually good in this case, since cost is a factor in the economy printer. For the fully assembled printer, it is only $399. As a kit, $299! It is the cheapest printer I have seen in a while, unless you happen to have access to a laser cutter or someone who can print plastic parts for you already. I don’t, but I do have all those parts laying in a box.
That’s when I saw they offered just the laser cut wood frame for $40! (Total of about $50 with shipping.)
So sometime next week, I will be getting a package of wooden parts in the mail, and hopefully another package from Ebay for the hot ends that I ordered to complete the build. I’m enthusiastic, you would not believe how much. It helps out with my secret project, it lets me actually use the couple hundred dollars in parts that I had ordered, and I’ll have a 3D printer when it’s all done.
So, anyone want anything printed?
[GARD]
