Full-color, desktop 3D printer coming at an incredibly low price

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prodesk3d by botObjects

Things are moving at such a rapid pace in the desktop 3D printer space, as consumers are getting more for their money seemingly with every new product release. Just like the PC and 2D printer spaces were a couple decades ago, improvements are coming so fast and furious that you can’t help but always want to wait for the next great product that’s about to come out.

This week a company has announced what seems to be quite a revolutionary step forward, one that will provide capabilities that you could not purchase anywhere near its projected price until now. It’s the ProDesk3D printer from botObjects, and it promises full-color printing in a desktop printer at a very affordable cost.

Similar to an inkjet printer, the ProDesk3D will use a proprietary 5-color PLA cartridge system, which will mix colors from the cartridges to create the colors you want to print. We’re not talking about five separate, fixed colors on the model, but a rainbow of colors wherever you want.

The printer will offer a proprietary dual extruder head, a self-leveling print bed, support material that does not require any finishing chemicals, self-calibration software and a tri-fan system to create a consistent airflow across the print bed for more accurate modeling. All this comes in a strikingly beautiful, anodized aluminum casing..

The website doesn’t indicate the availability date or the price, but according to SolidSmack, who spoke with co-founders Mike Duma (CTO) and Martin Warner (CEO), the ProDesk3D should be available in June 2013 at a price point competitive with higher end desktop printers like the Formlabs Form 1 ($3,299) and Makerbot Replicator 2 ($2,199 – $2,799). That is an incredible price range if it works as advertised, and should certainly shake up the desktop market.

Here’s an audio interview of the co-founders:

About Mark Fleming

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24 Responses to “Full-color, desktop 3D printer coming at an incredibly low price”

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  1. Andy Cohen says:

    The effort required to get automated bed leveling, the sensors, the actuators alone…. a big R&D effort. Now add to that the additional complexity of a completely new extruder conceptual design… a complete software suite… AND selling it for the same as all the known players today? This is a hoax meant purely to manipulate VC cash.
    Publishing anything and everything on “3D Printing” without verifications on the stories makes you look kinda foolish and destroys your credibility as a tech journalist. DO YOUR HOMEWORK!!!.

    • Mark Fleming says:

      If you have evidence of pricing contrary to what the cofounders told SolidSmack, please let us know. I can’t put them on a lie detector to verify. Do you have another method?

      We did say that the price is not published, and we sourced who said the price range.

      As for the features, we did say, “if it works as advertised” and it is unavailable as yet.

      So, not sure about your beef.

      • Andy Cohen says:

        Ya want evidence? Lets look at the evidence they themselves supplied; the artwork… which looks nothing at all like FDM… Instead it resembles the liquid resin based stereolithographic process with the orange resin and the liquid droplet logos. No gantry, no extruder, no build plate…. Then listen to what these guys say about their 3d printer… It will use PLA pellets which combine to make different colors. They talk about a self leveling build plate, etc. So they show one technology, yet talk about a different technology. Their website provides nothing but promises of a 3d printer as easy to use as an inkjet. All this magic for only $2300… Hooey! At that price they will never recoup the r&d costs let alone have any recurring margin on all the custom, closed sourced components.
        The 3d printer world is getting so overhyped and awash with cash all it will take is a good con to rake in a pile. What evidence is there of a con? Ask yourself… What is it that makes a con? They say everything they know you want to hear. Yet they have shown nothing!
        You need a better BS filter. You been used. Same with that podcast.

        • Mark Fleming says:

          I guess those who’e been duped should request a refund. Oh wait, they aren’t taking money yet. They wont until June. Assume they will have a working prototype to show people by then so people can determine if it will do as they say it will do.

          • Andy Cohen says:

            “Oh wait, they aren’t taking money yet.”
            Really? Then how come at the bottom of the web page, in the business card… the very first email URL is:
            “Customer inquiries: ”
            Many in this super hyped up 3D printer market ignore and are completely ignorant of what it takes to develop, produce and support a complete CE product. The 3D printers on the mkt that cost less then $3K are ALL based on open source foundations and these devices are incomplete solutions for the vast majority of consumers.
            Neither of the people on the podcast said anything that indicated that they really understood the technical challenges for the wiz bang promises they made. Their way of dealing with that question (it was made in regards to the SW) was that they have hired a lot of contractors. PLA, primary colored pellets mixed to make multicolored threads…ok… how on Earth can you hold all that PLA? How can you move the pellets? How does the different colors get blended? Oh I see a magic spoon mixes it! and then how does the extruder (which is on a >$3K machine) switch form one color to the next fast enough to control it as it lays it down on the print?
            The podcasters never challenged them and your caveat was barely noticeable!
            So what is the harm? The real harm is not necessarily the very gullible consumer who tries to buy one of these… it’s to the large number of cash holders looking to buy in to the ground floor of the next big thing. There’s ALOT of big bucks flying around looking for what could be the first real plug and play, toaster-like 3D printer. It does not exist yet, but if and when it does it will NOT come from a couple of investment types working on their own. Nor will it come from a kickstarter funded garage effort. It will come from a very large, well funded company that understands the CE product development life cycle as well as supply chain management.

          • Mark Fleming says:

            Wow Andy, you are really hot under the collar about this. Chill, man. They aren’t taking orders yet — they will around June 1. How could they take your money yet if there is no price?

            “Really? Then how come at the bottom of the web page, in the business card… the very first email URL is:
            “Customer inquiries: ”

            Have you even emailed them? Wy don’t you and ask if you can place an order? Publish what they say here.

          • Andy Cohen says:

            Hot under the collar?… No. I’m simply trying to make a point. Thankfully I can and I appreciate it. Seems to me you would want this kind of discussion and debate. So… Why gloss over the facts in your blog? Why give them an unfettered free platform with very light caveats? Obviously you want the big scoop… the big story. Understandable… but getting used like this does not seem to be in your best interests.
            Also, ask yourself why… if their claims are real… would they make this kind of announcement? If it was all real they would not give a hint until all the IP is protected and they say it is not. That’s their stated reason for not showing it.
            You suggest I send them an email saying I’m interested.. You must not know, but one form of very large commerce is the sale of validated emails, addresses and phone numbers. Even my spam email (the one used here) gets too much spam. This in and of itself could easily be their true motivation. A validated, focused list of emails direct to people ready to spend $ on 3D printing. Perfectly legal even though it’s unethical.

          • Mark Fleming says:

            Big scoop? Wasn’t me, I gave the credit to SolidSmack.

            Okay, Andy, while I’m enjoying this conversation, I can no longer take you seriously. You are afraid to email someone? Now that’s getting into paranoia.

            So, since you are afraid to email them, I took the extreme risk and did so myself, pointing out your comments here and telling them I would publish their response. Since this part of the comments is getting nested too deeply, I’m going to post it in a separate comment in reply to your first post. The comment is here.

          • CornGolem says:

            “well funded company” maybe but it doesn’t mean one of the leader manufacturer of the professional machines.
            New market means new leaders and you become leader by being first in the mind not by having the best product, so Makerbot is here to stay.
            Why hasn’t Stratasys, Objet or 3DSystem already done it ? they know how, they haven done it for their industrial machines. It looks like they don’t want to do it. 3DSystem killed BFB to promote its Cube which uses proprietary filament. Stratasys and Objet are keeping the price high and the specs low.

          • Andy Cohen says:

            “Why hasn’t Stratasys, Objet or 3DSystem already done it ?” Not sure what you are asking. Are you asking why don’t they have the features these guys are touting? Well, a couple they do… but even those come at some substantial cost. That’s why a Mojo starts at $10K and that’s why you have to replace the build plates and buy their filament cartridges. It is not easy to make FDM as deterministic as possible and it ain’t cheap. You want it for ~$2K? Ok then, you get the basic open sourced designs… i.e., a glue gun with a semi reliable feeder on a rickety plotter.

            and BTW…

            I ain’t sellin anything so why would I BS?
            This blog and site needed a big dose of reality to offset all the fantasies.

    • CornGolem says:

      The botobjects.com website does not look like anything is going to be released, worse, it doesn’t look like anything exists.
      The audio interview however sounds like there are real people with a real project knowing what they are talking about.
      So who’s bullshiting us, botobjects or Andy Cohen ?

    • Mark Fleming says:

      In reply to your other comments here about the company already taking peoples’ money, since you said you were afraid to email them, I’ve done so for you and asked them to read your comments and clarify. I told them I would publish their reply. Here it is:

      Thank you for reaching out to us, and I would be happy to clarify for your
      readers what is available at time of going to press. The company and its
      founders are committed to the upcoming release of the ProDesk3D, and have
      just launched the early press and awareness campaign for the launch. The
      company is not taking orders today, but allowing people to register
      interest. The company has not given actual prices for the ProDesk3D, nor
      disclosed the shipping dates for first orders.

      What is confirmed, and to your point, is that the company expects to
      announce it will take early orders from June 2013, and provide at that
      time, further important sales information and other media such as video
      about the product. While no formal dates for first shipping orders has
      been announced, it is likely to be in the fall of 2013.

      There has been a lot of speculation by competitors or stakeholders with a
      vested interest in the 3D Desktop printing space, a lot of which is
      entirely inaccurate. We as a company recognize that when a new entrant to
      the market, such as our company, breaks new ground, that the market will
      discuss and challenge this. We cannot control this, nor want to, but will
      state that we remain extremely positive about the opportunity ahead for
      the ProDesk3D. Our campaign is aimed at providing advanced information to
      future customers only. botObjects is excited about releasing more
      information shortly, but will pursue its carefully planned release program
      in the months ahead.

      Kyle Williams
      botObjects

  2. Ronald Leard says:

    3 d printers are comming , but fix the problems first.
    1 abs prints but has warps
    a lay down a layer of pla first

    2 get it to stick on the platform
    a make it a warm to except the substrate

    3. dirty tips screw up the prints
    a make a tip cleaner , program a cleaning before and after it prints

    4. insulate the walls so the substrate is warm
    a any draft on the part screw up things

    5 make the base with a common material
    a nice flat glass , it cheap and easy to get and cut

    6 ABS cost beteeen 5 bucks to 300 bucks per kg
    a Companys like Strat , bastardize the real so NORMAL abs can no be used

    7. I am waiting 2 years before I will buy another printer.
    a to many garbage products out there
    1 They all beat there drums bottom line is each has it own problems
    Cost, bastard parts, bastard abs, thickness, part sticking and comming off, software,

    My colection of abs string balls is larger than the parts made.

    Car and 3d printer salesman/woman are all the same.

  3. Andy Cohen says:

    Notice they are now backpedaling on the color printing? LOL! Their statements are more of the stuff that they know someone WANTS to hear. Big press announcement; nothing real to show.
    I, for one, really enjoy and appreciate this website. Thanks to Mark Fleming for running it and keeping it going…but please lets try to keep the hype toned down bit.

  4. Mark Fleming says:

    Here’s an article from VoxelFab called, My doubts about BotObjects.

    He almost lost me at first because he wondered why they made it orange, but then he went on to make some more substantial points.

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