An infographical guide
to 3D Printers
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Printers 3D
 
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Home 3D Printers

Professional 3D Printers can be expensive and bulky, making them unsuitable for use at home, but there are now a number of 3D printers suitable for desktop use. Home 3D printing is still in its infancy and many home 3D printers are shipped in self-assembly kits, whilst other affordable 3D printers come pre-assembled.

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Home 3D Printers

Home 3D Printers


Makerbot Replicator
Makerbot Replicator
MakerBot's Replicator improves upon The Thing-o-Matic with the introduction of a second colour, larger print area and built-in control system.
Da Vinci Mini
Da Vinci Mini
At £230 this 3D printer is cheap but provides quality
UP!
UP!
The UP! personal 3D printer from China, is designed and marketed to be an affordable and portable 3D printer for home use.
Cube 3D
Cube 3D
3D@Home's Cube 3D Printer is a pre-assembled 3D printer aimed at home and hobby consumers and retails for around $1,299.
CubeX
CubeX
The CubeX prints in 3 colors, with a volume of up to 10.8 x 10.45 x 9.5-inch, up to 125-micron resolution.
Robo3D
Robo3D
At around $520 it should be one of the cheapest 3D printers around. 10 x 10 x 8-inch build volume, 100-micron resolution
Thing-o-Matic
Thing-o-Matic
MakerBot's Thing-o-Matic is an open source 3D printer from MakerBot Industries.
HP Designjet 3D
HP Designjet 3D
HP Designjet 3D Printer will arrive on your door step fully assembled and ready to print. A HP Designjet 3D Printer is likely to set you back around £11,000.
Buildatron 1 3D
Buildatron 1 3D
Buildatron Systems' Buildatron 1 3D is another affordable 3D printer suitable for home use.
Objet Connex
Objet Connex
From cost-effective desktop 3D printers ideal for home-based workers all the way to industrial-scale multi-material machines for large manufacturers.
3DTouch
3DTouch
Features up to three extruders, 10.8 x 10.8 x 8-inch build volume (for single extruder model), up to 125-micron resolution.
Imagine 3D
Imagine 3D
A syringe based 3D Printer that comes fully assembled, and prints out a variety of materials, including food, chocolates, silicone, cheese, epoxy, organics, etc.
Eventorbot
Eventorbot
A low cost, home assembly 3D printer with a 10 x 8 x 6-inch build volume.
Formlabs Form1
Formlabs Form1
The Form1 uses stereolithography printing for more detailed prints.
DeltaMaker
DeltaMaker
The Delta robot platform has a 9-inch diameter x 11-inch build volume and offers 100 micron resolution
BotObject Colour
BotObject Colour
The first full-color desktop 3D printer


  • MakerBot's Thing-o-Matic (pictured above right) is an open source 3D printer from MakerBot Industries.
  • RepRap is a FOSS 3D printer, with full specifications released under the GNU General Public License.
  • Fab@Home is a an open source personal injection printer developed at Cornell University, designed for printing food and many other materials.
  • 3D printer kits can also be bought allowing resourceful DIY-ers to construct their own 3D printers. Kits exist for Thing-O-Matic, Ultimaker, and Shapercube 3D printers.
  • For those with a bit more money and space available a HP Designjet 3D Printer will arrive on your door step fully assembled and ready to start work. They are bulky (203 x 152 x 152 mm) and likely to set you back around £11,000 or $17,000.Printers 3D.
  • 3D@Home's Cube 3D Printer is a pre-assembled 3D printer aimed at home and hobby consumers and retails for around $1,299.
  • Buildatron Systems' Buildatron 1 3D is another affordable 3D printer suitable for home use.
  • The Origo and iModela iM-01 are both affordable 3D printers aimed at children.
  • The Printrbot is one of the cheapest 3D printers currently on the marketand is shipped as an easy to assemble kit.
  • Ultimaking's Ultimaker is an affordable open-source 3D printer.
  • Essential Dynamics' Imagine 3D Printer is a syringe based 3D Printer that comes fully assembled, and prints out a variety of materials, including food, chocolates, silicone, cheese, epoxy, organics, etc. The Imagine 3D printer retails at around $2,995.
Up 3D Printer

UP! 3D Printer

The UP! personal 3D printer from China, is designed and marketed to be an affordable and portable 3D printer for home use. It costs around $1500 for the fully assembled printer, with refill plastic costing around $50 per kg. It has a resolution of 0.3mm. The finished models show striations from successive layers of printing, but minimal sanding results in a smooth finish.

If an object is an irregular shape, featuring extrusions, or unable to stand without support, the printer software conducts a full analysis and adds support struts on the fly. These have to be removed with a hobby knife or scalpel after printing.