The new Stacker professional-grade FFF 3D printer will soon go live on Kickstarter, but it has already gained a strong supporter: leading Dutch filament manufacturer colorFabb. Both companies share their desire to create products that are innovative, functional and safe for the end user and Stacker has been designed specifically to run colorFabb’s newest composite filaments by incorporating robust filament drives, low friction guides, and high wear nozzles.
Stacker will debut in a crowded desktop 3D printing segment and will make itself stand out for a significantly low price, with respect to the new possibilities it offers, and by targeting mainly professionals, schools, colleges, makerspaces, print shops, manufacturers, and companies. With a final starting retail price set at $5,995, each Stacker will also ship with a spool of colorFabb’s new XT-CF20 carbon fiber loaded filament.
As you can see for yourself in the video below, at this price the Stacker also offers several interesting innovations, beginning with its “multi-print” technology, which allows for printing of up to four copies of the same part, at the same time, in different colors, and with different types of filaments. All of this will take place within a very large build volume, which starts at 250 x 450 x 220 mm and can be upgraded a print size of 250 x 450 x 600 mm by expanding the Z axis. Furthermore, the entire 3D printer has a modular structure, which means that you can modify the printer’s height, frame, and even the number of printheads at anytime.
To offer augmented performances with any filament on the market, and specifically with colorFabb’s composite filament, Stacker’s universal filament rail will be complimented by custom polymer bearings that are adjustable for perfect tolerances, do not use grease or oil, and require zero maintenance. They can thus be used in harsh environments filled with contaminants and moisture, and they are highly effective at absorbing vibrations. The HYBRID hot end will also support quick change nozzles: one for lower melt filaments, such as PLA and ABS, and one for stronger and higher melting thermoplastics, such as nylon and copolyesters.
With products like these, the barrier between professional and consumer grade products is getting thinner, both in terms of price and performance: that is exactly what the 3D printing revolution is all about.
Update 2/25/14, 9 am CST: The Stacker 3D printer is now live on Kickstarter, complete with rewards, KS video, and, most importantly, the ability to back the project. You can still purchase the Stacker at its early-bird price of $3995, about $2k less than the expected retail price of $2,000. Here is the complete list of rewards:
To learn more or to back the project, head over to their Kickstarter page here.
Update 2/25/15, 3:40 pm CST: In less than 5 hours, the Stacker3D team was able to meet its $100,000 crowdfunding goal and is now at $113k at the time of this writing. On top of that, the project was made a Staff Pick by Kickstarter and it’s possible that the hue amount of traffic directed towards the site caused Kickstarter to crash at 11 am CST. Big first day for the Stacker 3D printer printer!
