Pwdr 3D printer
The Pwdr 3D Printer
A team at the University of Twente (The Netherlands) have made an open source powder based 3D printer available to the wider community. The pwdr. system is a first generation self-assembly 3D printer that can be obtained for around €1000.
Specifications for the pwdr. include 96 dpi resolution, a layer thickness of 50 micron, build speed of a minute per layer, depending on the part being built, and a maximum build size of 125 mm x 125 mm x 125 mm.
Components for the machine build can all be sourced off-the-shelf and the control software, based on open source tools like Arduino and Processing can be downloaded easily.
Materials are currently limited to experimental ones, such as gypsum, ceramics, concrete and sugar with more recognizable materials such as ABS, PP and nylon scheduled to become available “when the SLS process is fully supported”. The pwdr machine employs a readily available cartridge system to deposit the custom powder binder during printing.
This is nothing if not a very interesting development for makers interested in using 3D printing. We are very much looking forward to hearing about how this system develops here at Personalize and to seeing some parts come off the machine.
