Freaks3D is a Low Cost Portable 3D Printer (Crowdfunding)

ElecFreaks is a design house based in Shenzhen that caters to makers and startups, and started selling Arduino shields and accessories, as well as  Raspberry Pi add-on boards, before moving to robotics kits, 3D printers, and other tools in demand by electronics hobbyists. The company has now designed Freaks3D portable 3D printer, and launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund production.

Freaks3D printer specifications:

• Technology – Fused Deposition Modeling
• Build Volume – 130 x 150 x 100 mm (LxWxH)
• Nozzle Size – Standard 400 microns
• Resolution – Layer: 100 microns; XY: 50 microns
• Filament diameter – 1.75mm
• Filament Material – PLA or TPU
• 3D Files Transfer – USB via PC, or SD card
• Misc – LCD Display, one button operation, printing bed does not require heating
• Power Supply – 12V / 8A power adapter, or 12V / 5A power bank (Not included)
• Dimensions –  290 x 320 x 325 mm
• Weight – 2.945 kg

The company recommends Cura or Repetier Host software, available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X,  work with the printer which supports stl, obj and G-Code files.

They also compared Freaks3D to the more expensive, but in many ways similar, Replicator Mini and Ultimaker2 Go compact 3D printers.

They left out some details being more favorable to the other two models like WiFi connectivity and on-board camera to monitor printing progress in the Replicator Mini, but on paper at least Freaks3D appears to be a fairly capable printer for the price.

You can also watch a 15-second video to see the printer in action, with close ups on the object being printer, and LCD display.

With 16 days to go, the campaign has been successful so far with about $114,000 raised from 400 backers. The cheapest reward is $299 for the printer kit to be assembled and a 8GB SD card, but if you prefer an assembled unit and 3D filament, you’ll need to pledge $399. Delivery is scheduled for August 2015, with free shipping (by boat) to the US and Europe [Update: There seems to be confusion with shipping as backers from some countries in Europe are asked to pay $30 to $40], and to other countries you’ll need to contact Elecfreak to find out how much you need to pay for shipping.

I got clarification for shipping:

For the Freaks3D fully assembled, shipping to the US and Europe costs 40 usd/unit; For the Freaks3D kit form, shipping to the US and Europe costs 30 usd/unit. Customers in other areas of the world, we will contact them later after the campaign closes to charge the shipping cost because at the current stage, we’re picking up the most affordable and best forwarders for the 3D printers, and some customers ask for air shipping while others prefer cargos.

If you’d rather not order through Indiegogo, Freaks3D printer is also up for pre-order on ElecFreaks website (The $599 price tag shown is not the final one…). There’s also a very similar model called Creality CR-7 selling for $220 + shipping on Focalprice.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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