This Tiny Belt Printer Cleverly Uses Common Sanding Belts

One of the most wonderful parts of open source hardware is seeing all the variations and permutations that spring to life around a central idea. In this case the idea is the belt printer, and this latest variation is adorably tiny.

Built by Aidil Jazmi, this little print factory uses the sanding belt from a belt sander as the bed. There isn’t much information on the page where you find the plans, but you can clearly see it working in the video above. The thingiverse page really only holds the printed parts, you’re on your own to sort out the electronics.

One big question that we have, is what happens on the rough side of the sand paper? Does it simply just sand away the support bed underneath? Is that a heated bed that is being destroyed as the belt is dragging over it?