Jan 7, 2015 | By Simon
Founded in 2013 with a mission to construct a 3D printer that surpasses those existing on the market with faster speed, better efficiency, increased reliability and higher resolutions, the creators of the Draken 3D printer have definitely set the bar high for themselves... and with a new Kickstarter campaign that launched this week you can help them reach it.
Created by the team of talented engineers and designers at 3D Facture, the Draken DLP-SLA 3D printer is the result of over two years of research and development that aims to be the solution for most problems that existing users have with current 3D printers.
“Do you feel impatient if your design takes such a long time to print?” the team states on their Kickstarter page. “Are you upset that low-end 3D printers don't have the quality to make the true beauty of your designs real? Are you frustrated if your 3D printer can't print a sufficiently large size? Do you dream of having an affordable, high resolution and fast 3D printer on your desktop? We’ve created Draken, the ultimate printer.”
In order to bring the SLA technology into homes and small businesses, 3D Facture understood the need to make an SLA 3D printer that was as low-cost as possible without sacrificing the high-resolution qualities that SLA 3D printing is known for and used by designers of highly-intricate objects.
3D Facture addressed the high costs by spearheading their own developments focused on modularizing components and using higher quality parts without raising the costs to the end user. By doing so, the 3D Facture team was able to make the Draken very easy to assemble, maintain, upgrade, and manufacture.
Comparison with Stereolithography (SLA) competitors:
The high resolution of the Draken’s print output is achieved through the high precision linear stage module that is often seen on high-end semiconductor equipment. Additionally, the engineering team focused on developing a passive peeling technique that reduces the adhesion force at each layer separation and increases the printing speed.
Similar to other existing SLA 3D printer manufacturers that have opted to produce their own materials, 3D Facture has also created their own SLA resin but have also opened up their platform to accept all third-party materials... most of which have been tested prior to launching the Kickstarter campaign.
“Draken supports all third-party resins,” says 3D Facture. “We have tested several stable resins for Draken with various properties. MakerJuice, MadeSolid, FTD, and even the Formlabs resin work perfectly with Draken. What’s more, Draken’s materials development team has created our own resin, whose price is the lowest on market.”
With it’s 37 microns on the X-Y axis and 10 microns on the Z axis resolution capabilities, the Draken is capable of creating prints that are up to 8.66” tall with a 3.86” x 7.09” build base at 90 micron XYZ resolution. These measurements allow the Draken to print the largest and tallest among other existing personal SLA printers.
The low-noise 3D printer is also able to print at remarkable fast speeds. While other SLA 3D printers on the market print a 6.5 inch Statue of Liberty with 100 micron Z resolution in 6 to 8 hours, the Draken clocks in at a speedy 3.6 hours.
Made from high-quality steel, and aluminum, the modular body is even able to be disassembled and the projector itself used to project HD movies onto the wall in your workshop or office, if so desired.
As for software operability, 3D Facture has stated that the Draken is compatible with a variety of open source software including Pronterface, Slic3r, and Creation Workshop. The printer also works with Windows, Linux, and Mac computers. Additionally, 3D Facture is also in the process of developing its own software to add additional features for advanced users of the Draken.
With a campaign goal of $100,000, you can help make the Draken a reality and purchase one of many Draken pledge packages starting at $999 on Kickstarter.
Posted in 3D Printers
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Nice set up but the Titan1 has the lead atm in size but time will tell. Keep up the great work ;-)
3dfacture wrote at 1/9/2015 6:48:17 AM:
Thanks！We're looking forward to your coming!
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