$350 MakiBox wants to be the world's 3D printing gateway drug (video)

For less than an iPad 2, you could buy a 3D printer. That's what Jon Buford is telling the world with his MakiBox A6, "the first 3D printer designed from the ground up to be simple, completely self-contained, reliable and most important of all, affordable!"

As Buford notes, what the MakiBox really brings to the table here is its low price. MakerBot, the most popular name in 3D printing for hobbyists, sells its flagship Thing-O-Matic as a kit for $1,100 (meaning assembly is required), and its newer and larger Replicator for $1,800 fully assembled.

Buford's MakiBox, instead, costs $350 as a kit, or $550 for one fully assembled. Buford's already received enough money to push out a first run of MakiBoxes after posting the project on his Kickstart-like site, Makible, and even promises "as we sell more, we will be able to look at even better prices down the road."

Of course, you need your plastic "ink" to 3D print objects, something that Buford sees as an inflated cost, writing: "It is typical to see a single kilogram of plastic sold for $40 or higher, even when the material cost is a fraction of that… we will sell all standard sizes of ABS filament at $20 per kilogram plus shipping."



Source: dvice