Nov 1, 2017 | By Benedict
Lumi Industries, an Italian 3D solutions company, has announced the commercial availability of the LumiPocket LT Personal Fabricator, a multifunctional open source resin 3D printer. The 3D printer has been in production since the start of the year following a successful crowdfunding campaign.
It seems a long time since Lumi Industries, the Montebelluna-based 3D printing company, first announced the launch of its LumiPocket LT 3D printer, which surpassed its Kickstarter campaign goal shortly after arriving on the scene. Until now, the only makers who have been able to use the resin 3D printer have been those confident early crowdfunding backers—and even they had to wait a long time!
Fortunately for the rest of us, Lumi Industries has just announced the general availability of the LumiPocket LT, bringing the machine’s entry-level resin 3D printing capabilities to a much wider audience. The 3D printer is available to buy for 655 euros ($760), with customers able to get 15 per cent off that price throughout the month of November.
For those who don’t recall the 2015 fanfare surrounding the LumiPocket LT Fabricator, the machine is a resin 3D printer with a UV laser controlled by a cartesian motion system. This replaces the previously mooted Scara arm (that the Kickstarter campaign advertised) in order to provide better stability.
An open source project since its inception, Lumi Industries says the LT Fabricator was created “for makers, hobbyists, and for all those people who would like to explore resin-based 3D printing without making a big investment or to have more creative functions in a single device.”
Those extra “creative functions” include a laser engraving option that works on materials like paper, paperboard, wood, MDF, leather, expanded polystyrene, fruit, chocolate bars, eggs(!), and fruit, and a PCB etching ability that works on pre-sensitized boards.
“You just need to position a presensitized board on the LumiPocket LT cart, and the UV laser will directly etch the tracks,” Lumi Industries says. “The base will then be ready for chemical development.”
The 3-in-1 nature of the system purportedly makes it suitable for hobbyists and professionals in a number of fields, such as electronics, leather crafting, and even dentistry.
In terms of resin 3D printing alone, the LumiPocket LT Personal Fabricator also does the job. Its 80-micron spot size permits an X-Y resolution of 100 microns, with the minimum layer height also 100 microns. Although that layer height isn’t out of the ordinary, the printer does have a finer laser spot size than, for example, the Formlabs Form 2, and can purportedly produce fine details.
The build volume of the new 3D printer, small and sweet, is 60 x 70 x 70 mm.
After being successfully funded via Kickstarter in late 2015, Lumi Industries had to delay production for a while as it refined its design—to incorporate the new cartesian system, as well as other bits and bobs. The company spend virtually all of 2016 going through the design and development of the compact resin 3D printer.
Production eventually began early this year, and 3D printers were sent to backers—most of whom now have their LumiPocket LT Personal Fabricators up and running—over the summer.
That crowdfunding campaign is now in the past, and the resin 3D printer, which Lumi Industries describes as a “perfect companion for…complete project creation,” is now available to all.
As with most resin 3D printers, the LumiPocket LT Personal Fabricator even has a translucent orange casing.
More information and an online shop can be found at the new Lumi Industries website.
LumiPocket LT Personal Fabricator specs:
- Z axis: 1.8° stepper with micro stepping; tested Z step: 100 micron
- XY axis: belt system; approx. 157.48 step per mm; theoretical resolution 6.35 micron
- Laser spot: approx 80 micron
- Build/etching area: 60 x 70 x 70 mm
- Laser Power: ~140mw (UV)
- Device Power: 12V 5A
- Max consumption: 60W
- Typical consumption: around 40-50W
- Dimensions: diameter: 20 cm ⌀ x 41 cm
- Weight: 4 kg
Posted in 3D Printer
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