Plan B 3DP Powder 3D Printer - DIY for under $1300

We've all heard of and seen powder based 3D printers. In fact some of these machines have been around for over a decade. One 22-year old engineer decided to create his own powder based 3D printer called the Plan B. It uses a powder which is binded together using an inkjet nozzle that distributes a binder where needed. The results are actually quite phenomenal, but the pros processing required could be a bit annoying. Read and see more on the Plan B 3D printer at: http://3dprint.com/12560/plan-b-3dp-3d-printer/

http://3dprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/planb.jpg

Do you guys think this is something worth $1300 to build?

This is not new technology but rather is based on the early 1990's binder jet patents from MIT's Ely Sachs and Mike Cima and has been practiced, refined and commercialized by ZCorp, Voxeljet and ExOne.

is it worth building.

Assuming the powder and glue is cheap enough - then yes. You can get really complex prints from a powder deposition system that you simply can't approach with a fff system.

I'd say that it is interesting in the sense that :
- the build is cheaper than industrial equivalents.
- the mechanical resistance of the parts seems far above FFF/SLA results.

I'd hesitate to put an FFF part as a load bearing prototype, but their video of load tests on the chain are impressive.