Rhino 3D Printer is Built for Durability

Another day another Kickstarter 3D printer release. Yawn? No so fast. A few new additive manufacturing (AM) systems that appear on Kickstarter manage to rise above their RepRap roots and offer something new to the AM scene.

The Rhino 3D printer may be one of the Kickstarter AM systems that is worth a second look. This new system designed by a PhD candidate in robotic engineering, and is solidly constructed using metal as its primary material.

The Rhino 3D printer is a solidly built system. Courtesy of Kickstarter.

The designer, Mohsen, explains the reasoning behind the Rhino’s solid construction:

About a year ago while working as a designer, I printed many prototypes on different 3D printers with price ranges from $500 to $10,000. Unfortunately the low-cost printers were not reliable, they were slower and since the temperature of the print area was not controlled, the parts lacked consistency and durability. Even though the industrial grade one was faster, precise and reliable, it was expensive and had a small print area. This motivated us to design Rhino, an industrial grade, all metal chassis and extruder, 3D printer with ability to control temperature of print area.

The Rhino’s chassis is built from solid metal (an 80/20 mix of aluminum/steel), and the build area is fully enclosed to help maintain a consistent temperature. The enclosed build area along with the heated aluminum build plate aid in producing solid builds.

Technical specs are as follows:

• Physical Dimensions: 23 x 18 x 21 in.
• Build Volume: 12 x 10 x 10 in. (30.5 x 25.4 x 25.4 cm)
• Layer Resolution: 80 microns
• Print Speed: up to 180 mm/s
• Supported Print Material: PLA, ABS, Nylon, Polycabonate (Plexiglass ),HDPE
• Filament Size: 1.75mm

The Rhino is about halfway to its goal of $50,000, which still leaves time for interested parties to get involved. As of time of writing, a donation of $585 gets you a fully built Rhino. Even if the system isn’t everything it hopes to be, it’s tough to find a decent 3D printer for less than $600.

Below you’ll find the Rhino’s Kickstarter video.

Source: Kickstarter