The Buccaneer Pre-Orders underway

[ImaginationProgress]

Nice! They are now out? Anyone use one yet?

[Brian_Krassenstein]

Here is another Update. Pirate3D is gong to really ramp up the production process. This could be huge for the company They are opening a mass production line, which will be completed sometime next month. After some testing they will begin producing thousands of Buccaneer 3D printers per month, allowing them to distribute their machines in mass in electronics and department stores worldwide. If anything is going to bring 3d printing into the mainstream, this could be it!

[ThingiverseContest]

Looks like there are only a few days left to get the Pirate 3D Printer at the $497 price. Pre-orders end on April 14.

Ahoy! Just several days are left before we close pre-orders of the Buccaneer 3D printer on April 14. You can pre-order now, or wait until the Buccaneer is available in your country, and that might take a while. Check the tech specs and pre-order now»

For the past several weeks we've been improving the Buccaneer by leaps and bounds. After we've sent the first public prototypes to our early Kickstarter backers, quite a few bugs surfaced. Feedback from our backers helped us to increase the reliability of the printer software and firmware. THANK YOU, BACKERS! You know who you are. We have also successfully tested and finalized features that we've been promising, such as auto leveling of the printing platform and a heated platform. You can learn more about current specifications of the Buccaneer from this document.

[csshih]

I received mine 20 days ago- one print went fine at home after needing to disassemble the hotend. It appears that their was test filament that somehow jammed in the extruder.
After I brought it to the office the calibration somehow went off and I'm waiting for a software update, along with many other customers as their forum and kickstarter page shows.

That being said the dev team has been reasonably communicative over the forum, but those software updates are taking a while! If anyone wants any photos of the insides I'll take a few.

EDIT: Software update get! Print in progress.

[Duck]

Does anyone have a Pirate3D Buccaneer? It's gone very silent online it seems with regards to this printer - the Kickstarter page seems to indicate they're stuck in certification? Why does this printer require certification but others (M3D Micro, etc.) do not?

csshih - would love to see some more photos and to hear about your experience over the last months.

[curious aardvark]

I think if you want to sell to schools and other governmental organisations - you need certification.

For home users - you don't.

[csshih]

Does anyone have a Pirate3D Buccaneer? It's gone very silent online it seems with regards to this printer - the Kickstarter page seems to indicate they're stuck in certification? Why does this printer require certification but others (M3D Micro, etc.) do not?

csshih - would love to see some more photos and to hear about your experience over the last months.

I'll be honest, I haven't really been using the buccaneer. my application really needs abs + a heated bed, and this early version doesn't have it. I'll make a note to plug it in and let it update.

[Brian_Krassenstein]

Kickstarter successes have been legion in the 3D printing sector, but once in a great while, everything turns south for budding entrepreneurs, and the team at Pirate3D are a case in point. The Singapore-based company built a very attractive and simple to use prototype of their FFF printer, and it generated huge crowdfunding support. But from there, it all turned ugly in a hurry as backers lost patience and began clamoring for refunds. The company says a recent round of investor activity will pull them up from the abyss. You can read the whole story here: http://3dprint.com/42876/pirate3d-private-investment/


Below is a photo of Pirate3D's 3D printer:

[Brian_Krassenstein]

On October 13th, Pirate3D co-founder Brendan Goh sent the Buccaneer Kickstarter backers a message saying that not only had Pirate3D operations already been frozen for two months, but they would be frozen for at least three more months due to cashflow problems. He also said that any new investors that they are seeking have told them, in no uncertain terms, that they would not invest in their debts. So the 60% of outstanding Buccaneer 3D printers are not going to be delivered any time soon, if at all. He said that instead, they would be focusing on developing new products and technology. Goh even returned to Kickstarter a day after the previous update and promised that despite how everything looks, Pirate3D was still going to deliver something to them, they just don’t know what it was yet. You can see more details about the ongoing Pirate3D Kickstarter campaign mess over on 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/100792/pirate3d-buccaneer-sinks/

[MechaBits]

Did people really expect a company called Pirate to be worth sending money too?