Hans Fouche's Cheetah 3.1 3D Printer is Now Available for Purchase

Over the past couple months we have seen and heard a lot about Hans Fouche's Cheetah 3D printer. Whether it be the 3d printed lawn mower, the 3d printed vacuum cleaner or one of his other incredibly unique creations, it certainly brought a lot of interest to the 3D printer that was capable of these unique creations. The Cheetah 3.1 officially goes on sale today for 100,000 South African Rand (approximately $8,600 USD), and he is shipping it worldwide. With a 1 cubic meter build volume and incredibly fast speeds (10 times that of more traditional machines), there is a lot of potential for it. Here are some more specs:

• Flow Rate: 500 grams per hour using a 3mm nozzle
• Build Volume: 1m x 1m x 1m
• Building Materials: ABS granules, PLA granules and EVA granules
• Nozzle Size: 3mm standard, but can also work with 1mm, 2mm, 4mm, 5mm, 6mm, 7mm and 8mm nozzles
• Firmware: Marlin with modifications (comes standard with the Cheetah)
• Support: 1 day free training at Fouche 3D Printing headquarters, plus free phone support for one month and email support for 1 year.

Read and see more on the Cheetah 3.1 3D printer at http://3dprint.com/43458/cheetah-3d-printer-fouche/

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Over 8 grand is pretty steep, but this seems like the kind of thing a whole community might chip in a few hundred dollars on. (One person only needs so many lawnmowers and wheelbarrows after all) It prints big functional things, but so far there hasn't been much to speak of in the aesthetics of the prints.

Of course, this is probably a limit of the modelling packages used to make the stuff so far, 3mm layers are pretty big, but not necessarily completely ugly big. I could see people wanting to make statues and outdoor sculpture with it for instance, and 3mm is fine enough to make a life-sized statue that is completely recognizable as the subject.

Its seems like a very specific niche. But with some tuning and the right setup I'm sure they can expand and make something that'll really be functional. A good mix of functionality efficiency always catches my attention

Hans Fouche is something of a 3D printing genius. He has created 3D printed lawnmowers, shoes, vacuum cleaners, and a garage-sized self-replicating 3D printer. Now he has made the giant Cheetah 3D printer even bigger - big enough, in fact, to sleep in. Read more at 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/103620/cheetah-3d-printer-hammock/
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