3D Printer

The good looking kit...

2012-05-10T10:22:00.001-07:00

What are the pros and cons of your machine?

2012-05-10T01:08:00.001-07:00

Hi Guys,

Since I created the blog I knew that a lot people would be working in similar project and many of them would create a printer or kit. I think this is great because our project has inspired some other people.

I also knew that the mechanical design in this machine will be something that a lot of people will copy, modify, improve…. That’s the reason we:

-    Focus a lot on software as we believe it can be used with any kit.
-    Will provide the mechanical design details once we reach the goal. We don’t expect that this will be private after the campaign as things will be mainly available on internet.

So, what are the pos and cons of our project?

Pos:
-    Software – we have the best software at affordable price, there is nothing similar in the market that can create the support and print. There are few open source slice STL, this is easy, the complex thing that no open source has is the ability to create the support automatically for the object. And none of open source software has a 3D graphical interface.

-    Controller board – our controller board control 100% of the printer, including VGA input for the projector and motors. Most of people working on similar kits are using the VGA output from the notebook to display the image. This means that you cannot do anything on your computer while you are printing because your monitor will be “busy” for the printer.

-    So, you just need one USB cable out of computer to control the machine

-    We have very few moving parts, which allow us to have very thin wall thickness, around 300 microns. This is very important if you want to print small objects and hollow ones.

-    We are using reliable linear actuator which provides better precision on Z axis.

Cons:

-    We are not a open source kit (electronics and software)

Regards,

Jr

Some clarifications...

2012-04-09T06:17:00.003-07:00

Hi Guys,

First of all thank you very much for all support, we are having a amazing campaign at Indiegogo. (http://www.indiegogo.com/veloso3dprinter)

I would like to clarify few things about the project:

What is the Kit?

I saw many negative comments in different blogs about the kit price, I believe that most of the comments are coming from people who believe we will be building the kit in my kitchen using components from the hardware store across the street. Additionally people are questioning the ability to provide support for the software as they believe are just people developing it for fun during free time.

My apologies for not explaining this before and creating this confusion. I understand the negative comments as I would also not pay 4K USD for something that will be produced in someones kitchen (place where 99% people are mentioning - LOL).

We have been developing a very professional kit, which will be manufactured in China with high precision components and plastic injected parts. The result is a good looking kit as well precision and great quality. The pictures you see so far is from our first working prototype, the kit looks much better. We will release the new kit pictures soon, you will be surprised. Why we havent share this so far? Because the new version uses a slightly different process than the one we have posted in the internet and we don't to make the details public on internet before the end of the campaign.

So, please don't think you are buying a "kitchen" manufactured machine. We moved to very professional mode for this kit long time ago, and we have all sort of engineers working in the project.

Additionally the software is not a weekend project, we have a small team working for over 1 year and 8 months full time on it. Just compare our software with the existing open sources... yes, difficult to compare... :-)

We are setting up the suport for both kit and software following best industry standards and I am sure everyone that acquires the kit will be more than happy with that.

I will provide some new pics soon, new objects and videos.

BTW, electronics are not standard 9.99 boards in the market but a special designed board.

Does it means if I buy the blue print I will need to build special precision parts?

This would be the preferable option, but you can still develop a machine using the hardware shop material or things from ebay. But we can't guarantee the quality.

We will create a forum where people who wants to build their own machine would be able to share their experience.

BTW1: Some people are getting upset and writing terrible things just because they are not getting answers for their questions. I am really sorry about it, and I apologize. We are receiving over 100 emails daily and many comments in the blog. Unfortunately we have huge backlog of questions which we expect to clean soon, right now our focus is on the design/development, so there will be always a bit of delay in the answers. Please don't take conclusions by yourself and kindly contact us by email (veloso3d@gmail.com) if you have any question or concern.

BTW2: I don't understand why so many people is asking for open source project... ???.. sorry the project is not open source as you expect.

Cheers

Indiegogo campaign is live!!!!

2012-04-02T05:28:00.005-07:00

Hi Guys,

We are glad to inform that our Indiegogo campaign for the project is live, please find the link below:

http://www.indiegogo.com/veloso3dprinter

Thank you very much for your support.

Cheers

Unbelievable!!! Thanks for all emails!!!

2012-04-01T06:15:00.005-07:00

Hi Guys,  

We are extremely excited with the feedback and emails we have received!!!  

In less than 24 hours we received over 150 emails requesting to enter in the pre-order list, some people for basic kit and most for the full kit!! We are very happy with the success!!!  

Because of that we decided to start the Indiegogo campaign tomorrow (April 2nd) as pre-order of the kits.  

We received many questions and they will be all in our FAQ.  

We are planning to have the following perks for our campaign:

Important: All prices below are just for Indiegogo.

E-mail PDF (59 USD):
One PDF document that will be delivered by email with the printer high level design (no measures included in the drawings), pictures, design suggestions, tips, some secrets.
This document brings all information for a hobbyist to design and develop his own printer.

The person should have some strong mechanical and electronic skills to be able to build the machine.

CD with complete design (159 USD - including shipping):
A CD with detailed printer design, including all measures, detailed pictures, BOM, videos how to assemble, manual, one resin formula and tips.

This CD contains all detailed information for a hobbyist to build our printer. The person should have some mechanical and electronic skills to be able to build the machine.

Software + Complete CD (399 USD - including shipping):
The CD above + full license of our software (features of the software will be in the FAQ)
Software price after Indiegogo: (549 USD)

Basic Kit I (Software + Controler board + Complete CD) (599 USD - shipping not included):
All items above + 1 controller board (able to control the entire printer).
(This basic kit does not include motors or linear guides or projector)
Price After Indiegogo: (849 USD)

Basic Kit II (Basic Kit I + few mechanical parts) (1999 USD - shipping not included):
This kit will have the Basic Kit I + the following parts:
1) All necessary motors for the printer
2) The linear actuators
3) Power supply for the controller board and motors
4) Building tray
5) Building head (area that the object is build)
With this kit you will have almost everything you need to speed up the process of building our printer.
(This basic kit does not include projector, machine main structure, as well some mechanical parts)
Price After Indiegogo: (2699 USD)

Full Kit (everything you need + 1KG of resin!!) - (3999 USD - shipping not included):
This kit will include everything, from projector to bolts and nuts. You will need just few hours to assemble and run you new 3D Printer. This kit also comes with 1KG of resin, which is enough to print a lot!!!
Price After Indiegogo: (to be defined)
Unfortunately we will be able to deliver only 250 full kits this year for this Indiegogo campaign, because of production limitation and we will probably just take new orders next year once we deliver all Indiegogo perks.

Additionally the campaign will last just for 2 months and the order will follow the purchase order at Indiegogo.

I am sure you will have great time with this machine as much we have been working on it.  

BTW, this is not 1st April joke... :-)  

Cheers,

Kit Update

2012-03-30T01:31:00.001-07:00

Hi Guys,

We spent the past few weeks working on the price for the Complete Kit, as well resin, software and everything related to the Printer.

We found out that producing all the parts and shipping worldwide is quite expensive, which is not what most of the people expect for a DIY project. The complete Kit would probably cost over 4K USD, without shipment and in case we manage to have a big volume.

This is very cheap compared to existing High Resolution 3D Printers, but it is expensive for a DIY project. And we felt after reading lot of emails commenting on the pricing, that the community is not expecting such a high price.

Because of this, we think would make more sense to move for only a basic kit, where we would provide all documentation needed to build the Printer, as well the Resin formula and just sell the software and the controller board. The documentation would have the detail technical specification, BOM and Suppliers.

This basic kit (Document + Software + Controller Board) would be sold around $600 USD, but even for that we would need a good volume to be able to produce it.
For this reason we’re creating a Pre-order list for both Kits (full and basic), so we can decide the best way to move forward.

If you are interested in the basic one or in the full one or both, please send us an email at veloso3d@gmail.com

Cheers

Quick update

2012-03-07T05:30:00.003-08:00

Hi Guys,

It has been a while since my last update, my apologies for that.... I have been quite busy...

Pedro is now leading the project and we have everything ready for the kit, looks impressive. I will post the details this week.

There are many comments and messages of people asking for contact details, so I decided to put our contact here in the blog. If you wish to talk to us please send an email to veloso3d@gmail.com

Cheers,

Jr

Still up and running...

2012-02-15T20:28:00.002-08:00

Hi Guys,

Well, still alive... and working hard on the project...

I haven't had time to update the blog or access facebook, believe me... and my apologies for being away for so long.

A lot of people have been asking how to contact me... here is my email... jvelosojunior@gmail.com

Best regards,

Junior

Getting good Macro Pics

2011-10-11T01:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

Really sorry for not posting anything past few weeks, I have been too busy at work.

I will provide more updates about the project + FAQ by the end of this week. Meanwhile I hope you enjoy some new pictures from jewelry.

Regards,

Junior

Better Camera Lens!!!

2011-09-09T18:21:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

Finally I got a macro lens, still learning how to use it but already got some good pics....

Thanks for all questions, I will answer by next week in the new FAQ.

Cheers,

Jr

New Video - Youtube - Printing Alien Skull

2011-08-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

We prepared a new video for you... I hope you like it as much we enjoy preparing it.

Follow the updates on twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jvelosojunior

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPmP0u1HuUM

Cheers,

Junior

FAQ 4

2011-08-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

Again, thank you very much for the interest in the project and all support. We have been working hard to bring this high resolution 3D Printer to all of you.

Before our FAQ, I would like to share a really nice thing with you. I printed some amazing bracelets (link) that I found through Google and posted here in our blog, however I didn’t know who created it.

I got the comment from him (Jesse Louis-Rosenberg) this week and I am very impressed with their work… check this out… http://n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com/blog/ I hope we can print some more of their work…

FAQ 4:

Q: There are plans to sell worldwide when it's ready?
A: We will be selling everywhere

Q: How much the 3D Printer will cost? (This is the main question we have received)
A: Unfortunately we don’t have the price yet as we are still finishing the design and material needed. We know that will be cheap, really affordable for a hobbyist, designers and home users.

Q: How much cost the resins?
A: The resin cost is quite high at this moment because of the volume, over 350 per litter. We truly believe that this can go down once the volume increases, this means we need big number of people using the technology to have good price for the resin. I hope this happens as soon we bring a low cost printer to the market.

Q: How much cost the software? Can I buy just the software?
A: The software price is still in discussion.

Q: Will the resin be open source?
A: Most probably not, because you can’t find the raw material easily to buy and some countries you will need government license to buy it. However the mixed material can be commercialized as resin. Additionally if we manage to buy together from one vendor we will reduce the price drastically.

Q: I would like to ask though, can you try to print a larger/heavier object (closer to the max theoretical dimensions you mentioned in an earlier post) so we can see what this design is capable of?
A: Answer in FAQ II - http://3dhomemade.blogspot.com/2011/06/thank-you-faq-ii.html

Q: Can you print wax models for jewelry? (Esta impressora serveria para fazer modelos de joias em cera?)
A: Yes, check the previous FAQs.

Q: Any dates for the commercial version available? (Há previsão para comercialização?)
A: We will start the preorder soon via crowd-funding (most probably within 2 months).

Q: From Teagus: would you be willing to run a figure i have modeled as a test?
A: Yes, but we are quite late with these requests as we have been testing the printer. If you don’t mind in waiting few weeks we will be more than happy to print. Please send me a comment with your email address and I will contact you.

Q: What kind of files can it import?
A: All STL files. Any 3D system can export 3D files to this extension also you can convert any 3D file to STL using free applications.

Q: Does the printer software add the necessary support structures automatically?
A: Yes, the software adds the necessary support structures, you don’t need to do it manually.

Q: how possible are moveable parts like ball bearings using the same resin material as a support?
A: Yes, you can print movable parts.

Q: Can the software set the wall thickness of a model? Or is that something that has to be handled while creating the 3d model?
A: Yes, the software will set the wall thickness.

Q: Do you think there might be a way to scale it up so that the same system could be used to create objects of a larger size but with reduced resolution?
A: See previous FAQs. This is possible but some implications.

Q: May I ask how long it took to print the sphere?
A: with 50 micros resolution around 4 hours

Q: very nice, are the resin materials safe for the environment? will they degrade with time, what are they made of?
A: Will answer this one once the material design is finalized.

Q: the last photo: there are tiny scratches on the surface, is there any way to do to achieve a much smoother surface or the resin(lost-wax type) can be modified after?
A: The surface is really smooth, you may not be able to see in the pictures. BTW, none of the objects received any type of finishing.

Sorry if I missed your question, I will answer more next FAQ.

Cheers,

Junior

3D Printer - Software Demo

2011-08-10T06:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

Very short demo from the software we are developing for the 3D Printer.

I will soon post more details as well FAQ 4:

Main question I received is about the kit availability - Answer: We intend to release by the end of this year, pre-orders will be open soon.

Regards,

Junior

High resolution pics

2011-08-05T05:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

I was asked to post some size references near the objects, so you could see the resolution.

I didn't realize this before as I can see the objects, but I imagine that is quite hard to evaluate the quality and resolution without a reference...

So here we go.... high resolution pics

Regards,

Junior

PS: FAQ 4 coming soon...

Ferdinand von Zeppelin sculpture + FAQ

2011-07-27T19:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

First of all, really thank you for all support!!!

This is a amazing digital sculpture tom Alex Neto... check out his website: http://alexneto.deviantart.com/

FAQ 3 – My apologies if I miss some questions…

Q: Is suction effect a problem that limits the size that can be printed?

A: Suction + object weight could be a problem but there are many ways to solve it by hollowing the objects and creating some tiny holes to avoid the suction.

Q: Can I build my own printer and buy just the software?

A: Yes, you can buy just software or parts of the printer; this is the cool thing about the kit.

Q: Are the resins dangerous for health?

A: Not really if you take proper cautions to handle the uncured resin, such as gloves, not drink, etc.

The cured resin is safe and you can handle as plastic toy.

Q: Can I use LCD projector?

A: Haven’t tested.

Q: Why not build and ship full printers?

A: Still evaluating this option also

Keep in touch,

You can add me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/jvelosojunior

Cheers,

Junior

Cross Platform 3d Printer Software

2011-06-21T06:36:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

Sorry, I have been quite busy these days... but got lot of progress on software development now that we have PH (Pedro Henrique) full time working on that.

The software is cross platform and I will provide some screen shots soon.

Best regards,

Junior

Thank you + FAQ II

2011-06-04T01:15:00.000-07:00

Dear All,

Thank you very much for all nice and supportive words and suggestion in the blog comments, emails and twitters. I really appreciate that.

Please find below some answers for questions I have received through the blog comments:

Q. Are those materials suitable for lost-wax casting?
A: Yes, I have material for lost-wax casting.

2. Is the software ok for the stl files from Rhino?
A: Yes, any STL file works, including from Rhino.

Q. Is the resolution we see on the pictures achieved by using a Projector or a Laser Galvanometer for the exposure?
A: Projector

Q. Is there a glass between the base pan and the projector or is the purple outline we see in the pictures, and video, a reflection of the black plastic, or a purple filter, or a Blue Laser Beam?
A: There is a glass between the base pan and the projector

Q. What is the approximate usable ( good resolution without distortion ) work area of the printer?
A: The bottom up approach has some limitations of size as the object can not be too heavy. Also the vacuum created with the bottom of big will possibly break the object or the tray. I believe we can reach 210X180X200mm, but haven't tested.

Q. Is the Venus and Alien Head a Solid or are they hollow? What is the Wall thickness (or minimum wall thickness ) , if hollow?
A: They are all hollow. The wall thickness od this objects is 1.5mm. I already tried 0.45mm wall and works fine but it is fragile.

Q. Is the Base Tray sourced as a part from other manufacturers or is it glass/plastic DIY.
A: It is DIY

Q: This printer can arrive at this details: http://www.moddler.com/index.php?p=model&id=4 it is a 2 inc statue
A: Yes

@: Will you be making the software cross-platform? Windows, Mac, Linux, or even Ubuntu?
A: Yes the software is cross-platform. I will post some screen shots next week and release a beta version for download soon.

Messages:
@Guybrush – Please send me your e-mail through comment and I will contact you, so I can print some of your sculptures.

Cheers,

Junior

Making things clear…

2011-05-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

My apologies for removing some posts and comments during last 2 days. The main reason for that were some negative comments I received in my last post.

After thinking a lot, I realized that I will never be able to make everyone happy, which means a lot of people will complain and provide negative comments.

So I decided to do two things:

1) Leave everything open: posts and comments, and not remove any negative comment as people should be free to say whatever they want.

2) Write this post to make things crystal clear.

I spent almost 4 years and lot of money to reach at this point, I can tell you that I have better resolution than all 3d printers under 25K USD (before tax), for this reason I DO expect to make some money out of it. There is nothing wrong on it.

My plan is make most of components open source (90%) and sell just few components (10%) in a kit. But if you don't want to spend any money you can build the remaining 10% at your own as the main concepts will be shared. I have no problem with that.

I do expect to deposit a patent as I don’t want another company selling some components of the kit. But I don’t mind if you do it for your own at your home and share for free. Also this helps me in future in case any company sues me for patent infringement.

I have been working a lot past weeks to prepare things I can share with you but this will take sometime as it is not easy and I can't spend 100% of my time on it because I have my own daily work as I need to make money to live. For this reason I expect to finish this by end of 2011. (I need at least 6 months to finish the software)

I will focus my work on finishing the project so you may see less posts and answers for the comments; and NO answer for negative ones.

Why I need money from this project? It is not to cover my costs… It is to give me enough free time to implement some other cool projects and make them available for mass market. I already have another 3 nice projects that I would like to start but I don’t have time for it.

If you are not happy and think I should not make any penny out of it, you still can follow the blog and build your own 3d Printer. I will be happy with your success in building a 3D Printer on your own and making it open-source!!!

Cheers,

Junior

Quick update & FAQ 1

2011-05-14T04:17:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks,

I have received some questions and I would like to create a king of FAQ so I can answer some of them.

If you have any question, please send a comment in this blog and I will do my best to add it in the next FAQ. You can also add me on twitter and send your question there. http://twitter.com/jvelosojunior

BTW, I have receiving many offers from nice people who are willing to support the project somehow. I really appreciate that. I will contact you in when the help is needed.

I intend to create a kind of forum, so we can improve the communication between everyone interested in this project. Any suggestions for this?

What is the current status?

A: I am currently working on the technical material for patent deposit. The machine looks like the existing in the market but it is very different. You can’t see the difference because I can not disclose it before depositing the patent.

This is the main reason you don’t have much detail of the machine here. This process can take few weeks and maybe months. I will keep you updated.

Why is taking so long to start the project on the crowd-funding?

A: I will start the crowd-funding when I finish the patent process, I don’t want to commit with anyone something and later delay to deliver.

How much the kit will cost?

A: The kit will be a very small fraction of the existing machines with similar quality but for sure a bit more expensive then the existing kits as you need very precise components to achieve such resolution.

You won’t get good resolution with simple components you can find in the common hardware store. Wood and common screws and nuts can’t be part of this kit.

Material

Is the material hard?

A: There are huge number of materials with different properties, some hard other soft and flexible.

What colors are available?

A: Yes, there will be different number of colors and I am currently testing a clear material

What resin are you using?

A: I don’t have one single resin that I am using right now; actually I am testing many combinations. You can see that the color and material looks different in some pictures I posted.

Is it UV curable resin?

A: No, It is near UV curable

How much the resin will cost?

A: Not sure, but for good quality resin the price won’t be much different from what you can see in the market right now. I hope the volume can bring the price down once the technology becomes more popular.

Light Source

What is the light source?

A: Projector

Software

Did you develop the software?

A: Yes I did

Is the software capable of building the support structures?

A: Not yet, but it will be soon.

Cheers,

Junior

Update and Flute pics....

2011-04-19T03:52:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

First of all thank you very much for all support!! I am receiving many e-mails and comments in the blog from some great folks willing to somehow support the project.

We are at full speed and as soon we need any support we will be contacting your. My apologies if I haven't contact you yet because I have been quite busy these days.

Please add me on twitter and we can keep contact. http://twitter.com/jvelosojunior

As I mentioned before I printed a nice flute... and it works !!!!! I will post a video with my friend Tiago playing it soon... (unfortunately I can't play)

BTW, I will try to answer some questions by these weekend that are in the comments.

Cheers,

Junior

Quick update....

2011-04-13T01:30:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

I have few news:

1) I am currently preparing the material (videos, pics...) for the crowd-sourcing.

2) As Kickstarter is just available for US based person, I will be using http://www.indiegogo.com
I will send the link as soon I prepare the project. Within 2 weeks.

3) I already have an idea about when the kits will be available - I believe I will need 4-6 months after funding to complete the project. This means by end of this year but the plans will be released before that.

4) The crowd-funding money will be used for:
a) Improve and reduce the cost of the resins
b) Improve software
c) Improve and reduce the cost of electronics
d) Create molds for the injected parts (reduce the cost and avoid CNC work at home - some people may do it by themselves)

I hope we can create huge 3D Printer community and bring this technology to everyone...

BTW, I can't stop printing... you get addicted when you start printing.... :-)
I will post some pics tomorrow..

Cheers,

Junior

Alien Skull - By Avinash Hegde

2011-04-07T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

I have just printed a amazing digital sculpture from Avi. He is a great artist and you can check his collection at http://aysculpture.deviantart.com/.

Please check the resuls.... the first image is from the 3D Software that Avi uses.

Thanks Avi, hope you like it!!!

Cheers,

Junior

Click on the images to see the details....

What comes next??

2011-03-31T18:26:00.001-07:00

Hi Guys,

I have been receiving many questions around my plans for the 3D Printer and what are the next steps.

My plan is very simple, improve the project in a way that anyone could build one of this 3D Printer at home. Additionally I may bring some commercial kits or parts so you don't need to buy a CNC or any other expensive tool to build your own 3D printer.

In my to do list to improve the project I have:

1) Improve material and reduce cost
2) Improve software
3) Improve a little bit the electronics ( this is almost done)
4) Document everything (including videos)

To fund this final stage of the project I will start soon a project at Kickstarter. There will be very different level of rewards (from PDF with complete plans up to full working printer) for those who would like to back this project and support the idea of spreading the High Resolution 3d Printer in the world. (still need to work on this name :-) )

Thank you very much for all support and I hope bringing more news soon.

Cheers,

Junior

First video...

2011-03-31T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hi Guys,

I hope you enjoy...

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snOErpOP5Xk

Cheers,

Junior

Ring - Mass Production... :-)

2011-03-30T18:45:00.001-07:00

Hi Guys,

It is really amazing what you can do with high resolution printer, sometimes I see myself surprised with the results.

You can print very small things with great details... take a look on the rings I printed....

BTW, now I can give a ring to my wife every day... hahahahaha... (I hope she doesn't read this)

Cheers,

Junior