Kickstarters used to be the place where you could find new 3D printers. Is that still the case?
Around ten years ago, it was very common to see new 3D printer ventures launch from garages onto Kickstarter, hoping to raise huge investments. Some were quite successful, with perhaps the biggest being Formlabs. From their successful Kickstarter, their management has parlayed that step into a massive international company today.
But those days seem to be gone.
Today’s inexpensive 3D printers are far, far more advanced than the early Kickstarter 3D printers. It’s mostly impossible to compete with them unless you have massive funding to build all the required features. Even then, you would still have a hard time matching the price points.
3D printer launches on Kickstarter started to fade away several years ago, punctuated by a few large-scale ventures from existing companies.
I used to regularly prowl through Kickstarter to see the latest developments, but hadn’t done so for quite a while and thought I should take another look around. Would there be any 3D printers being launched? What would make them successful?
As of this writing, I found only two. That was two more than I was expecting. The only way to succeed in that type of launch would be to offer something outrageously better, different, or cheaper than the current products on the market. Let’s take a look at these two and see if they have what it takes to succeed.
Largeo
One of the listings was for a device named “Largeo” by Lumha. As you might suspect, this is a large-format 3D printer with a massive build volume of 1100 x 700 x 300 mm. This is also an unusual build volume geometry, as most devices are mostly cubic. Here we have a build volume that has a high aspect ratio.
The machine is an open gantry affair, and a maximum hot end temperature of 270°C. The print plate can reach 100°C in apparently only five minutes, which is quite impressive. The machine weighs only 10kg.
Largeo sports a 0.6mm standard nozzle for faster printing, and uses Klipper. However, this is not a high-speed device: its rated print speed is typically 100mm/s, far slower than most smaller desktop 3D printers of today. This suggests that large prints — exactly the kind of thing you’d want to print on the Largeo — could take days or even weeks to complete.
The Largeo is priced at €1400-1600 (US$1560-1800), putting it in a similar price range to the Elegoo Orangestorm Giga, which has a somewhat larger build volume. I believe the Giga is the only competition for the Largeo.
As of this writing, no one has backed the Largeo.
Freakstone F500
The Freakstone F500 is the other 3D printer I found on Kickstarter.
This device is quite different from the Largeo, as it is a “smaller” machine with a 500 x 500 x 500 mm build volume. It’s designed to be a robust machine for professionals, and includes high-temperature capabilities.
The hot end can reach 320C, and combined with the enclosed chamber, this enables use of most engineering materials on the F500. The print plate is powered by 1200W and can reach 120C in “only minutes”.
The F500 is a CoreXY device that can perform 3D printing at up to a very respectable 400mm/s. However, they say that the recommended speeds should be between 50-150mm/s. This is partly due to the use of precision threaded rods and linear rails throughout the motion system, along with the aluminum frame.
The F500 is shipped as a kit that you must assemble.
Pricing on the F500 varies depending on configuration and timing. Open-air versions range from US$1899-1999, and enclosed versions with more features are priced at US$2899-US$2999. The MSRP on this version is US$4599.
The F500 looks to be a pretty competent machine, and seems reminiscent of the Pantheon devices we’ve seen in the past, although at a lower price point.
As of this writing, the F500 has 28 backers paying over US$45K. This has met the organizer’s goal of US$20K, so it seems the F500 may proceed.
Kickstarter Future
What does all this mean? My previous thought that you have to be very, very different to attract buyers on Kickstarter still stands. The Largeo, seemingly little different than the probably better supported OrangeStorm Giga, has attracted no buyers so far.
The F500 appears to be a better planned project with answers to most questions. That machine is hitting a market niche that is poorly served, and they seem to even have a good price point.
The bottom line here is that 3D printer ventures had better not try a Kickstarter launch unless they have precisely planned their product strategy to provide true benefit to a specific niche market.
