'New Matter' launching the MOD-t Affordable 3D Printer Soon via Crowdfunding Campaign

[Eddie]

Here are some more interesting details about the MOD-t:
http://3dprint.com/3535/new-matter-mod-t-details/

[JRDM]

"Instead of having the extruder, which is where the build material is expelled from, move on all three axes, they have changed the mechanics around quite significantly. The MOD-t 3D printer will feature an extruder that only moves in the Z direction, while the build plate will move in the X and Y directions."

The MOD-t movement isn't special. That's how a "knee" or quite a lot of vertical mills are setup. The down side with how they show it is that the machine envelope is needlessly large, or it further constrains the XY build area.

I don't know what cartesian 3D printer moves the extruder in all three axes. Maybe it's common in the big-name high-dollar machines. A Mendel-type is often set up to move the extruder in the XZ axes, and moves the table in the Y. Makerbot & Ultimaker move the extruder with an XY gantry, with a Z platform moving.

[LoboCNC]

"Instead of having the extruder, which is where the build material is expelled from, move on all three axes, they have changed the mechanics around quite significantly. The MOD-t 3D printer will feature an extruder that only moves in the Z direction, while the build plate will move in the X and Y directions."

The MOD-t movement isn't special. That's how a "knee" or quite a lot of vertical mills are setup. The down side with how they show it is that the machine envelope is needlessly large, or it further constrains the XY build area.

I don't know what cartesian 3D printer moves the extruder in all three axes. Maybe it's common in the big-name high-dollar machines. A Mendel-type is often set up to move the extruder in the XZ axes, and moves the table in the Y. Makerbot & Ultimaker move the extruder with an XY gantry, with a Z platform moving.

True enough - the Mod-T isn't particularly unique because of which axes move the table and which move the extruder head. It's unique because the X-Y mechanism is incredibly minimal (see my early posts in this thread), and the only thing that moves at high speed is the build table itself. This both reduces the part count and reduces the amount of moving mass because the table is very light. The lower moving mass further reduces the cost of motors, motor drivers, power supplies, etc..

[Ken]

Is there a way to get notified when the crowdfunding starts?

[LoboCNC]

Is there a way to get notified when the crowdfunding starts?

There's a place at the top of the New Matter website to sign up to get notification of the crowdfunding launch.

[Sky]

Hi - I'm new to this forum. I've worked on the development of this printer, and I can assure you that the rendering is quite complete. Well, the filament spool is not shown, but the complete X-Y-Z mechanism is all there - it's just really minimal. I've done a fair amount of printing on a couple of their prototypes that are functionally equivalent but are not nearly as attractive as the rendering of the production design they used in their announcement. Unfortunately, I can't say much more until the crowdfunding campaign launches in a couple of weeks.

If this is the same LoboCNC as http://jrkerr.com/lobocnc/index.html then his positive review should be respected. I have experience using his CNC and was impressed with his extensive knowledge of both the hardware and software.

Been working with 3D printers for about 2 years now and the M3D and this one seem to be on the right track for consumer desktop 3D printer.

In my experience and cantilever design is total failure. Truly, any moving bed was failure. (MB you know who you are). Most of that was due to the acceleration of the beds mass, leading to vibration. Now that you are only moving in 2-d, you'll have uniform Z-axis acceleration for the print bed.

I'm very curious to see how the separated mechanics will operate in unison.

My assumption is you'll get the speed of having a fixed extruder while maintaining the capability to do high delicacy prints (something cantilever beds super fail at (( in comparison with non-moving bed printer))).

[LoboCNC]

If this is the same LoboCNC as http://jrkerr.com/lobocnc/index.html then his positive review should be respected. I have experience using his CNC and was impressed with his extensive knowledge of both the hardware and software.

Been working with 3D printers for about 2 years now and the M3D and this one seem to be on the right track for consumer desktop 3D printer.

In my experience and cantilever design is total failure. Truly, any moving bed was failure. (MB you know who you are). Most of that was due to the acceleration of the beds mass, leading to vibration. Now that you are only moving in 2-d, you'll have uniform Z-axis acceleration for the print bed.

I'm very curious to see how the separated mechanics will operate in unison.

My assumption is you'll get the speed of having a fixed extruder while maintaining the capability to do high delicacy prints (something cantilever beds super fail at (( in comparison with non-moving bed printer))).

Yes, I'm the same LoboCNC - thanks for the vote of confidence! One thing to be clear on is the distinction between a cantilevered bed that moves in Z (very difficult to do) and a cantilevered extruder that moves in Z. With a cantilevered extruder, all you need to do is accurately position a single point (the extruder nozzle) in space. Because the mass of the extruder is constant and the drag loads from laying down filament are small, you can position accurately without needing a hugely stiff structure. With a cantilevered build table you are not only need to worry about the position of the table but also the orientation of the table plane. Tiny deviations in your mechanism (rod straightness, etc) can cause the table to tilt which really magnifies these errors at the perimeter of the table. Also, just the weight of printed object can cause the table to deflect if the structure is not incredibly stiff. In general, though, it's hard to make any sweeping statements about the best place to put your X, Y and Z motion axes because so much depends on the actual implementation. For what it's worth, I've printed tiny 10 tooth 2mm pitch timing belt pulleys on the Mod-t prototypes, so it should be capable of pretty detailed prints.

And regarding the M3D printer - it'll be nice when New Matter finally releases some specs and pricing - it will make an interesting comparison.

[Eddie]

BTW, New Matter has just informed us that the MOD-t will be launching on Indiegogo on May 28th and it will be priced at less than $300! More details at http://3dprint.com/3755/new-matter-mod-t-indiegogo/

[LoboCNC]

It looks like New Matter has released a video explaining their X-Y drive mechanism:



This is the patent-pending technology they are talking about. The entire X-Y drive consists of 2 pinion rods and one molded build table. (Plus motors, of course.)

[Yorke]

Has anyone found any indication on when they might be shipping the first units?
I hope it isn't going to be one of those crowd funding campaigns where they say it wont ship till 6 months after the campaign, and then after a whole lot of "unexpected" delays its another 6 months behind. It looks like a pretty talented team behind New Matter so lets hope they've got everything sorted and ready to ramp up production as soon as they hit their funding goal and get the units out fast.