Today MakerBot announced a new printer that they say is to fill the gap between desktop and industrial printing. The new machine, that carries a $6,499 price tag, boasts a few Stratasys exclusive tricks such as a heated build chamber and dry sealed filament bays.
The features list is quite lengthy. Along with the two enticing features listed above, the machine also boasts dual extruders ( a new design, not backwards compatible), a suite of sensors, a built in camera, and a software package that states it can open a variety of file types without having to first convert to STL, thereby saving time. They also state that in some instances they are printing up to 2x faster than other printers, but do not supply further data on what those instances are.
For those who are comfortable with desktop printer pricing, that price tag may come as a bit of a surprise to you. However, if you look around at the market you’ll find that offerings such as the Ultimaker S5 target this same price range for people hoping to have high accuracy and reliability in a work environment. MakerBot is betting that their patented features will set them apart and give them an edge in this area.
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