14 DAY TRIAL // Many 3D printers only print items in 150 x 150 x 150 mm size or less, and even large volume printers don't exceed that level by a factor of 1.5, for the most part. That has changed now that Jeremiah Clifft and CobbleBot LLC, based in Houston Texas, have made their move.
They have launched the CobbleBot, a 3D printer with the largest build volume ever seen in consumer models.
The objects that can be made in it can measure 15 x 15 x 15 inches, or 381 x 381 x 381 mm, for a staggering 3,375 cubic inches / 55,305 cubic centimeters. Thus, it beats the competition by 92%, almost double.
This would be shocking enough on its own, but the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign has another bomb for us: the price is of just $299 / €200. Admittedly, this is the crowdfunding pledge, and the retail price will be higher, but even accounting for that, the Cobblebot is incredibly cheap.
The layer height of the printed layers can be of 50 to 350 microns, while the extruder can use one of several different materials: ABS, PLA, Nylon, Polycarbonate, Flexible Filament, LayWood, PVA, and HDPE. On that note, the filament size can be 1.75 or 3 mm (usually it's only 1.7 mm).
For max quality prints, the CobbleBot can add layers at 150 mm/s, but the max speed is 250 mm/s.
All told, this is an impressive piece of work. There is little doubt the funding goal of $100,000 / €73,500 will be reached. Whether or not the higher thresholds are attained remains to be seen. The incentives, at least, aren't bad.