Buccaneer 3D Printer Hopes to Haul in the Booty

Even without true multi-material ability, people can still find plenty of uses for material deposition additive manufacturing (AM) systems at home. Staples is willing to bet on the home market, and Kickstarter is overflowing with 3D printers. Even if home users can only print in plastic, I suspect creative owners will come up with more than enough objects to print to make owning an AM system worthwhile.

San Palo startup, Pirate3D, is hoping to grab some of the AM boom with its Buccaneer 3D printer. While the company and printer names seem to be something of a nudge and a wink in the direction of potential IP issues involving AM, the system Pirate3D has put together is no joke. Although it has similar specs to other home systems, a $347 pledge will bring a fully assembled printer to your home.

As I’ve written before, most people interested in owning a 3D printer aren’t going to impulse buy a new system because of the new, shiny aspect of AM. It isn’t enough to just have a product, new businesses must find a way to set themselves apart from the herd. In the case of Pirate3D, the company is targeting user experience.

The Buccaneer comes fully assembled, and the calibration process seems to be performed by printing out a test block during setup. In place of PLA spools hanging off the side of the printer, the proposed system uses round cartridges that hold your plastic material. From the looks of the system, the cartridges can be refilled at home by basically dumping a spool into an empty cartridge.

The entire printing apparatus is enclosed within a brushed aluminum chassis, and finished prints are lowered out of the machine after the object has been completed. By hiding the innards, the intention is to create as aesthetically pleasing model as possible. I’m of two minds about this particular idea.

An enclosed area makes temperature regulation easier, and the Buccaneer comes with multiple methods for dealing with heat. Doing all the work in a box also makes it easier to deal with any odd smells that might emanate from the printer. But, just like any other printer, 3D printers can jam, and while watching a print isn’t really very exciting, it does allow users to monitor how the print is progressing.

The enclosed print area feels like a gimmick to me, but it’s still hard to argue with a price tag under $500. Along with the printer, Pirate3D intends to launch a website where people can download 3D designs, adding so-called cloud printing to the package. According to the company, users will have the option of tweaking the design of many of the downloadable objects using a program called Smart Objects that runs on mobile devices.

Put together, the sleek look of the 3D printer, the lack of a spool hanging around, and a custom CAD program potentially makes for a user experience that can’t be matched by other small 3D printer manufacturers. Assuming looks are matched by functionality, Pirate3D could well be on to something.

Below you’ll find a couple of videos from Pirate3D. The first is the Kickstarter video and the second is a quick demonstration of the Smart Objects app.

Source: Kickstarter