“Favorite 3D Printer at Formnext: GarageBot”

"I loved this Europellet-sized 3D printer. Made in Riga the GarageBot is a rough and ready machine tool for your local garage, garden center, workshop or school. The machine can print continuously and can be folded shut for transport or to print as a regular gantry system. I was walking around with Materialise founder Fried Vancraen, and he has been looking for 3D printers for garden centers for many years. More than an idiosyncratic obsession, this is a focus on making relevant objects close to consumers at a price and scale that they can enjoy. The GarageBot to me is a step towards that elusive goal. Parts look a bit rough still but price, throughput and size are there. Costing less than $30,000 the printer is affordable and makes things at a very low cost per part. It is able to make human scale things while printing either filament or pellets. Parts can be up to a 150 Kg and 5000mm long while productivity could be as much as 0.8 Kg/h. Regular build volume is 800 by 2000mm by 1000mm. I love the types of things this 3D printer makes possible."