By TAN KIT HOONG
bytz@thestar.com.my
The buzzword in technology circles these days is 3D printers, which use various methods to literally churn out a three-dimensional physical object, layer by layer.
While it has long been used in industrial prototyping and small-scale manufacturing, 3D printers are now slowly trickling down to the consumer market, with various companies producing affordable 3D printers for the home and small businesses.
The term “affordable” is relative, of course, where even the most affordable consumer level printers cost upwards of RM5,000 or more.
This is where Jonathan Buford’s MakiBox 3D printers come in.
MakiBox 3D printer.
Operating out of the company’s offices in Hong Kong, Buford and his partner Felix Lam have been able to produce 3D printers that cost between US$200 and US$350 (RM650 and RM1,130).
According to Buford, he first saw a 3D printed part as far back as 1989. At that time, the entrepreneur almost started a business in large scale 3D printing but ended up continuing his work in biomedical and robotics research.
It wasn’t until a year ago when Buford was using a RepRap — a popular 3D printer built using open-source blueprint — that he decided there was “real potential for designing a machine that is less expensive and easier to build and use.”
The machine they came up with was the MakiBox A6, a largely original design with certain parts based on other open-source projects.
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Operating out of the company’s offices in Hong Kong, Buford and his partner Felix Lam have been able to produce 3D printers that cost between US$200 and US$350 (RM650 and RM1,130).
According to Buford, he first saw a 3D printed part as far back as 1989. At that time, the entrepreneur almost started a business in large scale 3D printing but ended up continuing his work in biomedical and robotics research.
It wasn’t until a year ago when Buford was using a RepRap — a popular 3D printer built using open-source blueprint — that he decided there was “real potential for designing a machine that is less expensive and easier to build and use.”
The machine they came up with was the MakiBox A6, a largely original design with certain parts based on other open-source projects.
COLOURFUL DESIGNS: 3D products printed with MakiBox printer.
The product itself is shipped as an easy-to-assemble kit, but what makes the MakiBox so attractive is its low price point.
“It is always difficult to design to an aggressive price point. With any constrained design you wind up taking a lot of time to find the right combination of function and cost. For us, it was very important to make it not just inexpensive but also more simple and usable. I think we’ve got a good first generation design,” he said.
Since offering the product (in three variations) up for sale on the company’s site at makibox.com, Buford has already received over 1,000 orders and the first batch is already shipping.
Right now, though, consumer 3D printing is still in the enthusiast era, where only a small, knowledgeable group of tech enthusiasts are using 3D printers.
According to Buford, the biggest hurdle to widespread consumer adoption is in the content.
“If you ask someone if they think 3D printing is cool, they will say yes, but if you ask them what they would print, they don’t know really what they would use it for,” he said.
Buford will be giving a talk on making the low-cost 3D printer at TEDxKL 2013. The Star is the official print partner for the event, which will be held at Halls 2 and 3 of the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre on Aug 3.
The product itself is shipped as an easy-to-assemble kit, but what makes the MakiBox so attractive is its low price point.
“It is always difficult to design to an aggressive price point. With any constrained design you wind up taking a lot of time to find the right combination of function and cost. For us, it was very important to make it not just inexpensive but also more simple and usable. I think we’ve got a good first generation design,” he said.
Since offering the product (in three variations) up for sale on the company’s site at makibox.com, Buford has already received over 1,000 orders and the first batch is already shipping.
Right now, though, consumer 3D printing is still in the enthusiast era, where only a small, knowledgeable group of tech enthusiasts are using 3D printers.
According to Buford, the biggest hurdle to widespread consumer adoption is in the content.
“If you ask someone if they think 3D printing is cool, they will say yes, but if you ask them what they would print, they don’t know really what they would use it for,” he said.
Buford will be giving a talk on making the low-cost 3D printer at TEDxKL 2013. The Star is the official print partner for the event, which will be held at Halls 2 and 3 of the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre on Aug 3.
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