May 15, 2014

A week ago, we reported on a new 3D Printer, the 'MOD-t' by startup New Matter. Today we have received updates from the company that their crowdfunding campaign will be on Indiegogo and will go live on May 28th. Though they are not yet announcing the exact price, but the company did give a bit more details on the pricing: the MOD-t will be priced below $300!

It seems that every design of printer chooses a different way to move the extruder along the x,y,z axes. Ultimaker's extruder moves in the X axis and the Y axis, the build plate moves up and down on the Z axis. Other printer such as Affinia, its extruder moves in the X axis, and the build plate moves on both the Y axis and the Z axis. But the New Matter MOD-t works in a different way. It extruder only moves in the Z axis, while the print bed moves in the X and Y axis.

The patent-pending X-Y axis motion system requires very few parts. The simple mechanical design improves reliability and helps to reduce the costs as well, says the startup.

This week, the $299 Micro 3D printer, designed by two University of Maryland graduates, raised $3.4 million with more than 11,800 backers. Same as the Micro, MOD-t is also a 3D printer aiming squaring at the consumer end of the market. New Matter calls it "truly a printer for everyone", and we can't wait to see how everyone responds!

Update May 16, 2014:

New Matter has posted a video demonstrating the MOD-t dual-axis pinion rod system:

 

Posted in 3D Printers

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Jeff Kerr wrote at 5/20/2014 3:38:45 AM:

Looks like New Matter has released another video of an earlier prototype moving much faster: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqscOkfifoE

Grant wrote at 5/19/2014 1:03:03 AM:

Thanks Jeff for the info. I am really excited to see the final specs of it also, I hope the final version of it looks like the render, the render is one of the most attractive printers I've seen. Thanks

Jeff Kerr wrote at 5/17/2014 8:19:59 AM:

The speed in the video looks like it is just to demonstrate the mechanism. The prototypes I played with printed much faster - considerably faster than the Printrbot Simple. (It'll be interesting to see exactly what speed specs New Matter releases.) The build plate is actually quite secure on the pinion rods with just gravity loading. You actually have to bang into an end-stop pretty hard before the teeth will slip on the rack. The maximum acceleration achievable without skipping teeth is independent of the mass on the build table - while it takes a greater force to accelerate with more mass, you also have a greater gravity force pushing the rack into the teeth. And yes, there will be a fan.

Grant wrote at 5/16/2014 4:56:26 PM:

@Jeff, I just saw the video, the motion is actually really cool looking! As far as speed it appears just slightly slower than the speed of the Printrbot Simple. Then again my Printrbot Simple was unreliable. I am concerned about this slipping, is there something on the bottom of the build plate that holds it to the rods to keep them from slipping? Also, if you have a large print say somethings that is 150 cm3, would it begin to slip as the extra 5 ounces of material is laid down? Or for a big print would you turn acceleration down to prevent any slipping. If this printer turns out to be reliable, even with the slightly slower speed I believe it would be far preferred over the Printrbot Simple. Also, In the render and the prototype I didn't see a fan, as the printer is limited to PLA, a fan is usually needed for excellent print quality. Will the final version have a fan?

Anja wrote at 5/16/2014 6:29:24 AM:

@Jeff: Thanks for the tip!

Jeff Kerr wrote at 5/16/2014 6:12:45 AM:

New Matter has posted a short video explaining how the X-Y mechanism works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmn9BIwsE1w . The table mass is quite low, and therefore can be accelerated quickly with little power. There are also very few parts to the X-Y mechanism - two pinion rods and one molded table.

vnt wrote at 5/15/2014 9:37:35 PM:

It takes more time to print, it also takes more power to move the bed

Jeff Kerr wrote at 5/15/2014 7:46:25 PM:

I believe the prints shown (lifted from New Matter's twitter feed) were done on prototypes several generations old. (I've worked with New Matter on a few generations of their prototypes.) The print quality is much improved, and I assume they'll be showing off more current prints when their indiegogo campaign actually launches. Also, moving the table in X & Y is actually much more efficient because the mass of the table (just a few oz.) is lower than the mass of most extruders.

Cheapos wrote at 5/15/2014 2:22:55 PM:

Just another MakerBot Thingomatic design..!!

Robert wrote at 5/15/2014 1:03:27 PM:

What is needed is 3D CAD Software to expand greatly the functionality of consumer 3d printers. Durable, useful, consumer goods like a can opener or a juicer or an electric plug in outlet for the wall or lightbulb socket.... Honestly, I have tired of the hare and yoda

Grant wrote at 5/15/2014 5:15:21 AM:

I really love the look, but the print quality is not very good. They could easily remedy that extreme Z wobble for around 50 cents with springs and another bolt. Also the bed doing all the motion seems rather inefficient, the more weight that is carried on any axis seems to reduce print quality, at least in my experience. It is a really pretty printer though.



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