Man, what I wouldn’t give for a fully foldable 3D printer in this form factor… I hope they release a video of it folding.
Originally shared by 3ders.org
Foldie 3D FFF Printer can be easily carried around in just a 19 inch laptop bag
I like it. Nice alternative to foldarap mendel style architecture. Can’t quite tell how the Z stage folds up…? looks like the cantilever has to be detached?
The gantry has some design problems in the rev shown though. Hbot isn’t a great choice for the rigidity of parts being used here; it’s going to rack. And the belt paths aren’t 90 degrees off the Y carriage pulleys. That’s all fixable though.
I don’t think that a foldable design can be in any way exact in their prints.
Why not build one?
If you check the thingiverse page, there are enough pictures to see how everything works, and what the sequence is for folding it. @Ryan_Carlyle The platform has to be removed by pulling it forward, the Z axis has to be moved all the way to the bottom, and the piece that holds the platform folds upward. They really should have made the platform piece reach further back so that it would mount to a piece that wasn’t hinged.
Ok, so there’s a fair bit of assembly required when deploying it. Nice to see a new spin on folding printers though.
I don’t understand the use for a portable printer. Can anyone spell it out to me?
@Marshall_Stewart Show and tell, mostly. 3DP consultants, 3DP evangelists, Makerfair presenters, people who like to give tech demos to kids, and so on. I’ve heard of people who bring their printer on plane trips and it needs to fit in a carry-on.
As far as I can tell, it’s all about the printer itself, not so much about printing things. I’m pretty sure nobody is taking these things on military expeditions or month-long safaris or whatever for printing replacement parts.
@Ryan_Carlyle I know of at least one Deezmaker customer who was in the Navy and bought a Bukito to take with him when he shipped out (only for personal use while off-duty, AFAIK). I also know of another customer who took his machine as a carry-on and printed during a flight (in first class). People have also expressed interest in an easily portable (though not necessarily foldable) printer to take to job sites (locksmiths and plumbers, for instance) to make parts, with varying degrees of practicality.
But yes, the most practical uses for a portable printer seem to be the ones that are about having the printer in other locations, not about being able to print there. This might change if the printing process was faster, though, because printing often takes too long for on-site printing to be practical.
@Whosa_whatsis Good examples, thanks for sharing that. I think you’re right that speed is the big issue.
Yeah this is very usefull for me.