We’ve been working for the better part of a year now to bring about the next iteration of our 3D printer kits. We’ve tried and tested a lot of ideas along the way – some successfully, some not – and now we’re finally ready to unveil the finished product.
We had to decide early on what sort of business we want to be – and we decided that quality is our key goal in these printer kits. We’ve had working prototypes for six months now – prototypes that outdid our older printer models. But we’ve waited, tweaking, tuning, and improving – so that every printer we sell represents the best possible quality for your money.
We’ve taken every step we can to ensure a high-quality printing experience. We’ve upgraded our frames to extra thick 10mm material, reducing vibration and wobble. We’ve partnered with E3D-Online to bring their premium quality HotEnds to each and every printer kit. We’ve upgraded our extruders for reliability and ease-of-use.
Quality alone is not enough – we needed a printer capable of exceeding peoples expectations, capable of going beyond what most kit printers are capable of. We’ve included several new capabilities over our previous model printers – here are a few we’re particularly excited about.
One of the most annoying parts of building and operating a 3D printer – particularly for first-timers – is getting the print bed level. It sounds like an easy thing to do, but when you’re talking tenths of a millimetre things get a little tricky.
We’ve developed an infra-red probe, capable of measuring the height of the bed at different points. Using this probe, the printer’s firmware automatically determines and corrects for any inclination in the print bed – so you can get started printing with less hassle.
Printing in one colour is nice and all, but it’s kind of old hat by now. The Mark2 3D printers can be fitted with an optional dual-extruder. Enjoy printing in multiple colours, or with water-soluble support material. Combine flexible and rigid materials to create unique mechanical assemblies, or build power distribution into your parts with conductive filament. A dual-extrusion system really opens the door for new, novel and powerful printed creations.
If you’re looking at doing a lot of printing, you’ll want a way to keep your filament nearby and tangle-free. Our previous printer kits could hold one spool of filament – something that a lot of kits couldn’t do out of the box.
The Mark2 can hold a minimum of three 1kg filament spools, all fitted and ready for printing. Depending on how the printer is configured, up to five spools can be held at any one time – so you don’t have to worry about finding a place to store your print material.
Want to print without a nearby computer? The optional LCD controller upgrade allows for stand-alone printing, using an integrated display and files stored on an SD card. Real-time status is available at a glance, and control is easy through the on-screen menu system.
A good printer is useless without documentation – so we’ve set up the Aus3D Wiki to provide a central location for all relevant information.