Speaking of assembled 3D printers, which seems to be a sudden trend in the hobby 3D printer industry lately, there’s another one you might want to consider: the BotMill Axis PLUS. This RepRap-based device is priced at only USD$1195, far lower than other assembled 3D printers. Well, it’s not *completely* assembled. BotMill says: “All you really need to do is put the frame together”, because they’ve already assembled, the X & Y axes, Z components, Electronics and extruder. BotMill chief Gil Mayron explains: It’s the first ikea-like 3D printer kit that anyone has offered. Essentially we are doing all the assemblies and letting the client put up the frame. This printer is on sale for under $1200. It’s the best thing on the market right now with a new interchange-able 3mm and 1.75mm nozzle included as well as aluminum heated bed.
We haven’t got our hands on one of these yet, but reviewing the specs reveals these highlights:
- It’s mostly assembled. Oh, we said that already.
- Accepts either 3mm or 1.75mm filament
- Heated, kapton-taped aluminum bed (with extra roll of Kapton)
- Motors connected and cables tied down
- Endstops installed
- Five full pounds of PLA in your choice of color
- Spool holder
- Complete toolkit
- And it’s already assembled!
There’s two other features that we find quite interesting, both of which should come with any assembled printer. However, BotMill seems to be the only one offering these so far:
- Ten hours of telephone technical support and *unlimited* chat support.
- USB drive pre-loaded with 50+ 3D models ready for printing.
While the technical support and free models might not interest hard core makers so much, it’s clear that BotMill is trying to address the less-technical audience by giving them the confidence they can get the machine running and be able to successfully print something interesting right away. Good move, BotMill!
One more thing: you can choose your Axis PLUS to be any of: Bright Blue, Cosmic Yellow, Dark Black, Intense White or Really Red. We prefer blue, of course.
Via BotMill
