New Matter Offers Low-Cost 3D Printer with the MOD-t

I know a fair number of people who are interested in owning a 3D printer to mess around with at home. Some of them look at a 3D printer like another high tech gadget to play with, and others are more interested in printing out specific items. When asked for my opinion, I’ve universally told these hobbyists to wait for prices to come down.

New Matter, a member of Idealab, may just offer these sorts of individuals a reasonable entry level system. The MOD-t isn’t fancy, doesn’t have the largest build envelope, and offers only middling resolution, but it is absolutely designed with new 3D printer owners in mind.

Unless you already happen to have a reasonable amount of knowledge about 3D printers, the first aspect of any system most buyers will look at is price. At time of writing, backers of the Indiegogo campaign can secure a MOD-t for the low price of $199. Following the end of the backing campaign (which looks like it will easily reach its goal), that price will hop up to $249.

New Matter’s additive manufacturing (AM) system is a decent buy at either price point for a few different reasons, the first of which is the fact it isn’t a kit. Many of the other low-cost AM systems on the market have some assembly required, which, I suspect, will turn off many prospective customers. The ability to set the thing up and start printing in a short amount of time is a selling point.

As far as specs go, I’m going to refer you to the above comparison chart provided by New Matter. It isn’t hard to see for yourself that most of the specs are middle-of-the-road. The sole exception is resolution which, at 200µ, is on the low end of available options. At 200µ you can expect to see the strata formed by MOD-t’s material extrusion process.

Regardless of resolution, I like that New Matter is upfront about its capabilities. It takes a fair amount of nerve to compare your product to established 3D printer players such as MakerBot or 3D Systems. That kind of attitude is far preferable than some of the attempts I’ve seen to obfuscate a low-cost system’s specs.

In the end, if you are just looking for something to introduce you to 3D printing, or are an educator looking for an inexpensive entry into the technology to show to your students, you could do worse than to take a look at the MOD-t.

Below you’ll find the MOD-t’s Indiegogo video.

Sources: Indiegogo