14 DAY TRIAL // No one is ever going to contest how awesome it is that there are 3D printers which sell for $300 – $10,000 / €300 - €10,000, but it is also an unfortunate fact that FDM or SLA 3D printers aren't the best at ensuring good detail when you try anything sophisticated.
Unfortunately, printers that build things drop by drop from plastic filament (FDM) or by growing them out of resin (SLA) are the only ones that can be found in that affordable range.
Other technologies are a lot better though, and now the Polyjet has managed to squeeze itself into the low-price segment. And yes, ten grand is low price, because other printers, especially metal ones, sell for millions.
Prof. Dr. Jörg Luderich, at the The Cologne University of Applied Sciences (Germany) spurned his students to design a Polyjet 3D printer of under €10,000 / $10,000 – 13,500 by issuing the challenge as a Master's Degree project.
Apparently, six machines were designed, and one of them was made by Maher Alwan. It has a build envelope of 100 x 100 x 100 mm / 3.93 x 3.93 x 3.93 inches, but could be modified for 150 x 150 x 100 / 5.90 x 5.90 x 3.93 inches.
Two Xaar1001 printer heads are used, with an effective resolution of 1000 dpi a piece. Which is huge.
Polyjet 3D printing is better than other techniques because it is similar to inkjet printing, only it shoots out tiny droplets of a photosensitive resin (which instantly cures due to surrounding light, hardens). Much better detail than using an extruder to melt 1.75mm filament through a 0.04 mm nozzle. There is no guarantee that the new Polyjet printer will be marketed though, alas.