3D Printers

Kickstarter: Therminator 5 Hot End for RepRap 3D Printers

Tony May from RepRapTech has encountered issues with their 3D printers – more specifically he has found that the RepRap Prusas’ hot ends are below par for “more demanding print jobs”.  He names several problematic areas in this regard, such as the generally (overly) complex kits and designs, high costs and clogging that is eventually followed by cracking of the structure. To solve these problems Tony has come up with a solution and created a Kickstarter project, whereby, if he sources the funding, he intends to manufacture a set of 50 advanced RepRap hot ends called Therminator 5.

Coming from the RepRap community, Therminator’s design is naturally open. All of the designs and detailed instructions will be published on RepRap.org after the pledging project is over and the final designs are ready for manufacturing.

Using the timeless method of trial-and-error, many attempts on the perfect hot end have already been made – which are immortalized below.

scrapped hot end designs

 

TherminatorSome of the Therminator features make it sound like an attractive and viable new option for a hot end. It works with standard filaments – ABS and PLA with both 3mm and 1.75mm diameters and .35mm and .5mm nozzles. The more unique upgrade aspects include a large heat zone for temperature stabilization, double heat power resisters for pacing up the printing jobs, easily removable nozzle and thicker insulator among others.

Tony’s project has already exceeded its initial pledge goal of $2,000, with plenty of time left on the clock – the campaign is running until May 18th. If you want to find out more about this project and support Tony in his quest for better hot ends (it’s 60 bucks for a complete set), hit the Kickstarter source link.

Source: Kickstarter, RepRapTech