About this project
The gMax 3D Printer - Print. Bigger.
$129,224
148
Stretch Goals Announced!!
If we reach:
$100,000: Each backer who purchased a printer will get their very own Makeraser! A fellow start-up, this is a scraper that will have either an injection molded or 3D printed handle and will come with a tube that you can fill with acetone for ABS, ethyl acetate to plasticize PLA, water...whatever you want! (chemical not included). You can read more about Makeraser here:
$125,000: Each backer who purchased a printer will receive a 0.75 kg (1.65 lb) spool of ColorFabb filament in Intense Green (along with the Makeraser). This will give you plenty of filament to start printing immediately upon assembly:
Read About gMax Printer At:
Fast Company TechCrunch Fabbaloo WebProNews
3D Printer World Smart Planet The Inquirer 3Ders
Rapid Ready Tech RightStartups All About 3D Printing
3D Printing Isn’t Just the Future – It’s Now.
Imagine a world where you can come up with a design in your mind and have the physical object, large or small, in your hands with just a few clicks on a computer in the comfort of your own home or office.
History/Why We Began
3D printing is something that I was interested in long before I designed the gMax printer. Studying and working in architecture, I’ve been interested in building and design since childhood. Winter 2010 is when I bought a Prusa RepRap kit from the usual sources, and started assembling in my free time. As much as I loved the RepRap, I found myself being limited by the bed size. While I love the idea of sourcing parts from the community, there were larger objects I wanted to print but simply wasn’t able to. I then started playing around with designs for a larger 3D printer and eventually the idea started to grow legs and become something tangible. I sourced the latest electronics and a strong aluminum framework and used my RepRap to print the parts I needed to build what would become the gMax 3D printer.
Throughout this process I was working full-time and taking my exams to become a licensed architect, which I completed July 2012 – the first prototype was completed that Winter and I’ve been continuously updating, upgrading, and optimizing this printer ever since. In all, over a thousand hours have been put into the printer's design, website, blog and all the test printing. The gMax 3D printer is now at the stage where it’s not just printing efficiently, quietly, and beautifully – it can easily compete with the top-rated 3D printers on the market with a level of affordability and ease of self-modification that puts it in a class of its own.
Below are several renders showing the design's progression:
Why gMax?
With a 16'' x 16'' x 9'' (2,304 in3) build volume, the gMax 3D Printer is among the top when it comes to build volume capabilities. The gMax will provide you the option to print larger, print smaller, or print something in between. If you want to print one long continuous print, you now have the opportunity (rather than having to break the pieces up into smaller prints). Size also doesn't have to come at the sacrifice of quality since the printer is also capable of printing even small parts in amazing details down to 75 micron layer height.
Also, the 16’’ square acrylic bed does not require heat if you’re using PLA. There is no additional cooling, curing or additional steps needed – once the print is finished, it easily pops off of the acrylic and is ready to go. Another great feature I’m really excited about is that I’ve recently added an LCD screen and SD card reader so now I can print even without a computer.
When it comes to the actual frame system, I have chosen to go with the very strong 80/20 aluminum frame system. Many similar 3D printers use the 1’’ x 1’’ extrusions but gMax uses the larger 1.5’’ x 1.5’’ profiles for superior strength. For the connectors, I have gone with precision milled aluminum z-axis motor couplers instead of lesser quality plastic connectors. These couplers have a spring built into their design to protect the motors from torque homing overshoot.
For the extruder, I use the best MK-7 drive gear for excellent filament grip and a reliable and proven J-head hotend with a single continuous barrel and power resistor for quick startup heating. Note, the temperature is limited to 247 degrees. There is also a very useful LED light bar shining on your object so you can always have a good look at what you are printing, along with an integrated blower fan. What I also think is quite useful is that the entire extruder module can be popped off and replaced with a number of future tool heads. This includes the possibility of drill heads for drilling patterns, laser etching (with the proper safety precautions), light CNC milling, roller blade for paper cutting, and more.
On that note, this entire printer is designed for easy future modifications and customizations, not just the extruder. All of the colored parts are 3D printed so you can easily prove the usefulness to your friends/family/colleagues by showing them that the printer was made with parts made on another printer. Future upgrades can be accomplished by the end user by simply printing new or customized parts. 3D printed parts mean we can print on demand while avoiding the lengthy manufacturing process associated with other printers.
Another note worth mentioning is how quietly the gMax prints. Unlike a lot of other 3D printers on the market, you can barely hear the gMax when it is running. When I started I was operating out of a bedroom, and was able to sleep through the night while the printer ran.
While there are a lot of other budget-friendly 3D printers currently on the market sitting at a lower price point, I have gone to extensive efforts to make this printer simultaneously optimal and cost-effective because you are getting what you're paying for and more. This is not a printer that you will need to replace in 6 months or a year– it’s an investment that has the capability to evolve and become specifically tailored to the end-user.
My aim is to provide a simple to assemble high quality printer kit with all of the best upgrades. The gMax kit comes with everything you need to build a great printer at a reasonable price.
Summary:
- Huge 16’’ x 16’’ x 9’’ (2,304 in3) build volume
- As low as 75 micron layer height (with 0.35mm nozzle)
- The 16’’ acrylic bed does not need cooling if using PLA
- 1.5’’ x 1.5’’ inch strong aluminum frame system
- Precision milled aluminum z-axis motor couplers
- Print without a computer (LCD screen and SD card reader)
- Extruder: MK-7 drive gear, J-head hotend, LED light, integrated blower fan
- Parts easily swappable and customizable
- Very easy assembly – just need to slide in and screw.
- Quiet when running, especially compared to a lot of other 3D printers
- Works with most common open source software (slic3r, pronterface, etc.)
Design Philosophy
One of the interesting things about the gMax design was that it was purposely over-developed to make it more beneficial for the user. The reason behind this was to make the parts easy to disassemble and modifiable to your liking. For example, the extruder purposely has the extra bolts and seemingly superfluous pieces in order to be able to modify each part individually rather than have to take the entire thing apart to get to one specific element. This also applies to many of the brackets and connectors on the printer. An added benefit is that it makes the parts easy to assemble as all of the parts simply need to be slid in and bolted together.
(gMax Printer Design by Gordon LaPlante is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License. )
Specifications
Dimensions
28.5’’W x 24’’D x 21.5’’H
(Requires 6’’ clear space behind the printer to operate)
Weight
Approx 35 lbs
Frame
Black or Anodized Aluminum 80/20 frame system
Printer Colors
Each kit comes in one of four plastic colors or any ColorFabb PLA color, plus one of two frame colors (Black or Anodized) - depending on reward selection.
Technical Information
Filament Type
Works with all common 1.75mm PLA or ABS
Power Supply
115V/230V, 340 Watt power supply (printer uses approx. 40 watts)
Nozzle
0.35mm or 0.5mm diameter nozzle
Resolution
75 micron (0.075mm/0.0029’’) to 350 micron (0.35mm/0.0138’’) layer thickness depending on nozzle
Connection
Print via USB or from an SD card without the need of a computer!
Electronics
RAMPS v1.4 electronics preloaded updated and customized Marlin firmware
Motors
NEMA 17, 1.8o step angle with 1/16 micro stepping
Why We’re Selling This as a Kit
Some people have asked why I am selling this as a kit rather than as a turnkey out of the box printer. There are a couple of reasons. For starters, we want to make sure that printers don’t get damaged in transport. While we currently have enough manpower to source, manufacture, and package the materials needed for a proper kit, at the moment we don’t have the resources to find and properly train people to assemble and package a series of full-on machines. Secondly, we are currently working with a limited amount of space.
The success of this Kickstarter will not only allow us the opportunity to hire extra hands to increase our team, it will also grant us the resources to expand our space so we can increase our output and capabilities (including expanding our product line).
Another very important reason we’re going this route is because selling the gMax 3D Printer as a kit significantly brings down your cost to own this machine without any sacrifice to quality. And last, but certainly not least, we’ve received great feedback from people who are excited to tap into their inner maker and be part of the construction of their own 3D printer!
Just a few of the great things about the gMax 3D Printer Kit are its ease of assembly, the quality of the parts, and the ability to customize to your personal needs. Upgrades are inevitable when it comes to 3D printers and gMax is no exception. We are currently working on dual extruders, printing in other materials, etc. but our main focus is to provide a streamlined machine that will allow you to hit the ground running, printing bigger and better right out of the gate. This printer was also designed to be future-proof to allow the next wave of innovations to be implemented on the current machine.
For even more images check out gmaxprinter.com
Risks and challenges
This printer has been tirelessly worked on for over a year and a half with several hundred hours put into 3 different prototypes. I’ve waited this long to officially debut it because I wanted to ensure this printer measured up to the highest standards and will perform both beautifully and immediately upon assembly. That being said, building and operating a 3D printer takes a level of care and detail in addition to being at the mercy of various external details such as humidity and human error. I have been optimizing and upgrading this printer from the original prototype for the past 9 months to improve upon the accuracy, stability, and consistency of the quality, but will also include a detailed FAQ list to assist with any technical issues. Each printer will also include an easy-to-follow, visual instruction manual in addition to the series of YouTube videos we are creating in order to make assembly seamless and troubleshooting a minimal inconvenience.
As with most 3D printers, one of the biggest challenges comes with production schedules. We’ve discussed this in great detail and feel confident we will meet the demands and expectations of our awesome supporters. Specifically, we are taking a few proactive steps such as 1) Printing parts long before this launch and 2) Obtaining extra manpower to devote to printing and kit assembly on a full-time basis. 3) Setting limited quantities for each goal so that month to month we are realistically meeting our estimated delivery dates.
Our production pipeline is scalable because if we need to meet demand by printing more parts, we can easily add more printers to our current stock. Also, all of the framework, electronics and hardware are sourced from large distributors and are widely available allowing for less delays in the ordering process. Finally, we have very few specific customized parts, aside from the 3d printed ones, which will reduce the need for a single specialized distributor to create these parts.
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Funding period
- (45 days)