Mcor Technologies recently announced that it is giving away three years of 3D printing consumables to any US school that purchases its IRIS SDL – Selective Deposition Lamination – 3D printer.
The SDL process employed by the IRIS uses common photocopy paper applied with a binding agent and full-color ink to each sheet of paper, while thin razors cut away at the shape of the object being printed. The result is incredibly realistic objects that are far stronger and durable than you’d imagine something made of paper could be. Mcor believes that the high quality of prints combined with the extremely low price of consumables makes their IRIS 3D printer an ideal machine for schools.
According to the Irish 3D printer manufacturer, any school in the United States that purchases the Mcor IRIS education package will receive three years of unlimited 3D printing consumables completely free. Schools only need to purchase the package before December 15, 2014 in order to qualify for the deal.
“To be effective in education, 3D printing must be accessible to all students,” explained co-founder and CEO of Mcor Technologies Dr. Conor MacCormack. “Yet, the high cost of 3D printer consumables can severely limit students’ access to 3D printing technology and be prohibitively expensive for schools. This offer enables students much wider access to our breakthrough full color, professional, paper-based 3D printers.”
The Mcor IRIS 3D printer already had the lowest operating cost of any printer on the market today, and this deal makes the cost per printed model almost free. While the initial printer cost isn’t cheap – in the neighborhood of $30,000 – it is right in line with other full color 3D printer options. The low cost of 3D printer consumables already made the printer a good deal, but free paper for three years is pretty incredible.
When you consider that each print uses about a single ream of paper, that’s about 3-4 dollars a print. Depending on how often the printer is used, and what sort of limits are placed on the amount of free paper given to buyers that can really add up. Especially when you consider the quality of prints that IRIS produces.
