Macro and Micro: The Biggest and Smallest 3D Printers at NY 3D Printshow

3D printers come in many forms, big, small, oblong, plastic, or metal. It seems that for every personality, there's a printer. These two printers, showcased at the New York 3D Printshow, represent two ends of the spectrum.

3D printers come in many forms: big, small, oblong, plastic, metal, and more. It seems that for every personality, there's a printer. However, even with the additive manufacturing boom accelerating in the last few years, most printers share a common denominator—a four-digit price tag. For the professional that price may be worth it, but a hobbyist might be harder to sell. David Jones and Michael Armani want to sell a 3D printer everyone can afford. How does $300 sound?

The Micro 3D printer (or M3D) prints small. as the name suggests. It's maximum print height reaches 4.5 inches, but its size economy, low weight (2.2 lbs), and various color options (blue, green, black, silver, and orange) are clear indicators that this is a machine marked for the common consumer, someone looking for an affordable entry point into this new tech space.

"I got this idea that everyone wants a 3D printer they can afford and they want one that's not a pain in the ass," says co-founder Michael Armani, a bioengineer Ph.D. who met Jones while at the University of Maryland, College Park. "We had this constant, back-and-forth dialogue—how do we make it look good and maintain low cost? That resulted in 15 innovations." These tweaks on the standard printer included a new micro-motion sensor chip, rigid carbon fiber rods, and a ceramic heater, to name a few.

One other major design change was to make the printer more energy-efficient. The M3D uses 5 volts and 15 watts, ten times less than the MakerBot Replicator 2. "As you increase power, your cost multiplies," Jones says. "You need higher power motors, which are heavier, and then shipping costs increase." Jones says starting with a low-energy focus helped them price point so low. Even at a low cost, Jones and Armani say, quality is competitive: The machine prints in 50-micron resolution at 60 mm a second.

The M3D printer made its debut at this week's New York 3D Printshow and will launch on Kickstarter in March. Early birds will get a $100 discount, bringing the price down even further to $200. As the Kickstarter continues, the price will increase. The micro machine will still go through two more iterations and more software tweaks before the printers are ready to ship.

Meanwhile, only a few short steps from M3D's booth at the 3D Printshow, was BigRep, a 3D-printing startup from Berlin. Their space was simple: a small table displaying business cards, spec sheets, and a small TV monitor, and next to it, a 5-foot tall, 440-lb 3D printer. Known as the BigRep ONE, it is the largest fused deposition modeling (FDM) printer in the world. Inside its 5-foot exterior, the BigRep ONE can print creations up to 45 x 39 x 47 inches, making it possible to make large designs on a 1:1 scale.

That's exactly what artist and founder Lukas Oehmigen wanted before starting work on the ONE two years ago. Oehmigen, along with his college friend Marcel Tasler, hoped to wrench large-scale 3D printing from corporations and give the option to consumers. Despite its giant size, the machine is still pretty accurate, providing 100-micron resolution. But will require a pretty large monetary investment—a cool $39,000.

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