I’m hosting an event tomorrow night here in the DC area, a salon at Artisphere, looking at the artistic, cultural, and technological import of 3D printing and desktop fabrication. In doing research for the event, I wanted to bone up on the state-of-the-art in selective laser sintering (SLS) printing, a form of 3D printing that has, thus far, been cost-prohibitive to consumers and prosumers. I was delighted to see that the first hit I got had “Maker Faire” in the title. This weekend, Polyforge, Inc. will unveil their new SLS printer at Maker Faire Bay Area. Likely to cost in the neighborhood of $10K, the company is saying that, during their pending crowdfunding campaign, they’ll be offering their backers discounts as high as 50%. An SLS printer for $5,000? Now that would be exciting.
From the 3DPrint.com article about of the company’s Maker Faire unveiling:
It seems as though it was just a year ago that the idea of seeing consumer-level selective laser sintering (SLS) 3D printers come to market was only a pipe dream. These types of 3D printers have long been reserved for large corporations with equally large budgets. However, as with all technology, as time goes on and innovation takes place, prices begin to drop.
We have already begun to see several consumer-level SLS 3D printers announced in the past few months, some of which are priced at under $20,000, making it entirely feasible that one day soon, SLS machines could take the place of FFF- and SLA-based printers on the desktops of artists, designers, and hobbyists.
If you’re coming to the Faire this weekend, look up the Polyforge booth and check out the next generation of 3DP.
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