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A college student in the US has developed a simple, affordable 3D printer which costs only a third of the price of a conventional 3D printer. Shai Schechter, from Purchase College, State University of New York, developed the low-cost device called Deltaprintr.
"We have a laser- and powder-based 3D printers at school, but it costs about $500 for a bucket of powder and that only lasts for about one or two prints," Schechter said. "It's never used because it is so expensive and classes weren't offered that much in the curriculum," Schechter said.
While a new MakerBot 3D printer costs $2,000, the Deltraprintr is significantly less: $475 unassembled or $685 assembled for the large size (2 feet high). It is also available in extra large (2.5 feet), which has a doubled printing capacity, two more inches in diameter and six more inches in height, for a price of $705, technology website Mashable reported.
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The Deltaprintr uses three stepper motors, located under the acrylic platform where the objects are printed. Motors control the carriages that move the hot end and ultimately create the 3D-printed objects.
Since a Deltaprintr design doesn't require as many parts as other 3D printers, the savings are passed on to consumers. "MakerBot uses belts to move the print head, but ours uses a fishing line," Schechter said. "With the fishing line, you can expand it to make it taller if you want by changing the aluminium rods. It allows it to go faster than the MakerBot and is more accurate," he added.
