3D printer now live on kickstarter

The printer I mentioned earlier is now live on kickstarter. I've actually bought a suitable projector through my work to build one from scratch to use in my "proper" research but I believe in this project so much I have decided to back the project personally so will be getting one of the complete kits when available for use in The Littlest Workshop.

I could probably build something using the surplus parts I have for far less money so why have I decided to go down this route? If you look at commercial machines the one area they vary is in the means of release of the part from the bottom of the build vat, others build from the top down to avoid this issue. Michael has found a solution that avoids current patents and has then made it public, he also intends to make the project open source.

This in my mind is quite selfless, it is likely that in a short period of time there will be a myriad of people jumping on the band wagon, this will surely include the big players. This means that his decision possibly limits the future of his venture, however he is not fazed and clearly just wants people to have printers to play with. The upshot is that the copy cats and big players will drive down prices and future generations will not only be cheap compared to current commercial offerings but genuinely affordable.

So I feel I want to support his noble cause and the fact I get a tried and test 3D printer out of it is a real bonus. As for the projector I still have at work, I am sure I can make use of that, perhaps an ultra high resolution printer using high quality parts or perhaps I will investigate some more usual printing ideas I have.