Dremel Releases 3D Printer

Lucas123 writes Power tool maker Dremel today announced it's now selling a desktop 3D printer that it said is targeted at "the masses" with a $1,000 price tag and intuitive software. Dremel's 3D Idea Builder is a fused deposition modeling (FDM) machine that can use only one type of polymer filament, polylactide (PLA) and that comes in 10 colors. The new 3D printer has a 9-in. x 5.9-in. x 5.5-in. build area housed in a self-contained box with a detachable lid and side panels. Dremel's currently selling its machine on Amazon and The Home Depot's website, but it plans brick and mortar store sales this November.

Comments

Wrong type of machine for Dremel

[ArcadeMan]

Frankly, I would have expected Dremel to come out with a small desktop CNC, not a 3D printer. Given the price of the Roland iModela, Dremel would probably have offered a much better, bigger and stronger machine for the same price.

Re:Wrong type of machine for Dremel

[NoKaOi]

I take it you've never actually used a 3-D printer?

Re:Wrong type of machine for Dremel

[umafuckit]

Well, it's a CNC extruder rather than a CNC miller. TBH, I think most of the fuss about 3D printers is just that they're called "printers."

Re:Underspecced?

[smellsofbikes]

Is it me or does it sound a bit underwhelming for $1000? I don't mean the price is non-competitive, it just seems like I'd want something more capable if I was going to take the plunge. Burn $1000 and in a week won't you be hankering for a much more capable machine?

Yes. And spending two months debugging bed/head temperatures, print and extruder speed, and layer thickness, so your prints consistently stay solid and adhered to the bed rather than peeling, will be totally invisible to you because that $1K presumably means someone else already did that. There's a lot of value in getting something that's been debugged, and that's particularly the case for extrusion-based FDM 3d printers. It's okay to be hankering for a better machine, particularly if you're already printing. The best 3d printer is the one that's actually building parts for you.