Here is my weekly list of crowdfunding campaigns that caught my eye for being unique, affordable and worth a look. Don’t worry, I’ll always keep the list at five or fewer projects. Click through to see this week’s notable Kickstarter projects.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/625059603/the-magic-coin-pouch-handle-coins-better
The Magic Coin Pouch
What is it?
The Magic Coin Pouch from Paperwallet is a small coin holder made of Tyvek that folds up and stores in that little pocket on the right side of your jeans (or any other pocket for that matter).
Why do I like it?
It’s small, light weight, water resistant and securely holds up to 20 coins including international coins: $, €, £, ¥, ₽, ₣.
There’s also the cool flick gesture that you do to lock the coins securely in place (see the video above).
Where can I find more info?
The Magic Coin Pouch campaign has already surpassed the funding goal of $10,000 by nine times with 10 days left in the campaign. You can pre-order a Magic Coin Pouch for $11 with shipping estimated for August 2016. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/101hero/101hero-the-world-first-us49-3d-printer
101Hero 3D printer
What is it?
The 101Hero is a 3D printer that is affordable and easy enough for anyone to use.
Why do I like it?
With a price of less than $100, it’s a 3D printer that almost anyone can afford and you don’t even need a computer to use it. Just save the 3D project data to an SD card, insert it into the 101Hero and it will print the object with PLA, HIPS, ABS, other standard 1.75mm filament spools or custom 101Hero filament spools.
I’ve been wanting to try a 3D printer for years and this one looks like the perfect one to try without breaking the bank.
Where can I find more info?
The 101Hero campaign has already surpassed the funding goal of $20,000 by 100 times with 10 days left in the campaign. You can pre-order a 101Hero 3D printer for $74 with shipping estimated for October 2016. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1886315350/geizeer-eco-friendly-ice-cooling
Geizeer
What is it?
Geizeer is a personal mini air cooling unit.
Why do I like it?
It’s small, uses very little energy and only costs about 1 cent a DAY to operate. It is portable enough to take from room to room. It has a rechargeable battery that powers a small fan that blows air across a cold pack that you recharge in your freezer.
It looks like it would be a good solution for areas that don’t have a dedicated AC unit or as a supplemental cooling gadget.
Where can I find more info?
The Geizeer campaign has already more than doubled their funding goal of $34,191 with 14 days left in the campaign. You can pre-order a Geizeer for $97 with shipping estimated for September 2016. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.
Organika Cases
What is it?
Organika Cases are smartphone cases made of organic materials like flower petals, hay, coffee beans and more.
Why do I like it?
Smartphone cases are boring, everyone has one. This company wants to make unique cases from unique materials. The rose petal case smells like real roses because it’s made from that exact material. The cases will be available for the following phones and tablets:
iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 PLUS, iPhone 7*, iPad air, iPad mini 1/2/3, iPad Air 2, LG G3, LG G4, LG G5, Samsung Galaxy S5, Samsung Galaxy S6 / Edge, Samsung Galaxy S7 / Edge, Samsung Galaxy Note 3/4/5, HTC M8, HTC M9, HTC M10, Huawei P6, Sony Z2
Where can I find more info?
The Organika campaign is a brand new Kickstarter project that has a funding goal of $13,000 with 30 days left in the campaign. You can pre-order an Organika case for $29 with shipping estimated for September 2016. Visit their Kickstarter page for all the details.
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3D Printer: Interesting, I have a few comments tho. (I did however back it for ships, giggles and curiosity). I am no novice to 3D printing, this will be my 4th and I will completely overhaul it if necessary.
Comments, First off the retail price of $99 seams about right for what I see in the kickstarter. I just ordered the $79 DV kit. The build quality appears to be reasonable. I’ll spot them $104 (with shipping ouch) as it looks like a worth while project. HOWEVER!!!!!!!!
PRO’s I see: Small form factor, and simple. Looks nice. It is a delta style printer (3 towers for motion instead of X-Y-X left,right, height Cartesian style printers) simplifies build, increases speed, and allows for smoother curves with less “jaggies”. The one button printing does not appeal to ME (which is why I ordered DV version) but I can see it as a huge selling point for a true novice, so I’m going to include that as a PRO.
I don’t have a “CON” list, it’s more of a “you need to understand the limits of printer and not expect it to do more than what the design and technology are capable of” list.
A. The kickstarter claims to print ABS, HIPS, Nylon, PLA, and more. I believe this is a stretch. The printer is lacking a heated print bed and is lacking a fully enclosed print platform. This is not necessarily a bad thing however. Heated print beds add an entire new layer of problems, failure points, and cost. However if you wish to print high quality, reliable, and well formed models in ABS, and Poly-carbonate you need a heated print bed, and preferable a closed chamber to keep internal heat around ~95c degrees. ABS needs to remain at this temperature the entire duration of the print. Likewise a heated bed, and enclosed chamber wreak havoc for PLA, PLV, TPE, TPU, Bendlay, and HIP. This is typically why people that do a lot of printing will have more than 1 printer. Changing filament types requires a lot of work and time. Once you get your printer tuned to a specific type (and trust me you will spend a lot of time “tuning” ANY 3d printer) you will not want to change types. So in a nutshell I would not recommend this printer for ABS, that in itself is not a deal breaker, just don’t buy this style printer expecting it to be great for ABS. Printers that print well with ABS do not print well with PLA/PLV, and likewise for the reverse.
Personal note: I personally prefer ABS for functional products, hinges, cases, racks, replacement parts for hardware, mounts, etc. And PLA for fun models, toys, prototyping.
B. It’s a Delta. Delta’s have many pro’s and many cons. The Pros of a Delta tend to be faster prints, smoother curves, easier to build, and cheaper to manufacture. The Downs to deltas are they are notoriously difficult to calibrate and trouble shoot. All motion in a delta X-Y-Z up/down/left/right/forward are all translated into vertical up/down motions. This means if you have a drift or calibration problem on your X-axis (left right) you have to now tweak and tune THREE axis’s at once. A change that will ripple though the remaining 2 axis’s throwing them off calibration. Unlike in a Cartesian printer if your X access is drifting or out of alignment you only tweek a single motor/axis, the adjustment will not impact the remaining axis’s. I generally do not recommend Deltas for brand new users, especially if they do not have patience.
Personal Note: I love to hate Delta’s. They are picky and cranky but when you get them tuned in, you will have a printer that is far faster and superior to Cartesian for printing what I call “organic” models. Models that have smooth flowing curves, gentle slopes, and and spheres. Cartesian printers shine for hard angles, boxes, brackets, geometric shapes. I tend to use primarily PLA in Deltas.
About Filaments https://www.matterhackers.com/3d-printer-filament-compare
Thanks for the all the info Andy!
Wonder if 101Hero will accept my Peachy Printer contribution since that seems to be now dead in the water.
Just kidding. Anyone contributing money to a Kickstarter for 3D printers of any kind is an idiot.
Idiot here,
Well the Peachy printer appears to be offering much more than would make sense for a $100 (or $500, or $1000) printer. The Laser assembly and resin designs are very complex, difficult to tune and have ridiculously small tolerances in manufacturing. Even a $4,000 Form2 Resin printer (which is about the best resin printer in the sub $10k range) is picky as hell, and requires a lot of maintenance, and babying to get running smooth (nothing against formlabs I would love a Form2 but $4,000 is outside my ships and giggles comfort zone). Resin printers are not there yet even in the $4000 range. To expect one in the $100 range is a pipe dream and “snake oil”. Is the 101 Hero a scam? Hopefully not. However based on the design, parts and construction this printer can actually be manufactured for ~$30-50 depending on qty. Delta printers are dirt simple in design, and from a mechanical point of view much simpler to manufacture. They do require much tighter tolerances then Cartesian printers and the software is much more complex requiring more calibration and patience, but MECHANICALLY they are dirt cheap to make and simple in design.
Also my last delta I built from 100% scratch, no kit but based on the 20×20 kossel mini. I have a good understanding of 3D printing, electronics, and programming. This kickstarter (assuming it’s not a well designed scam) is practical, promising a realistic product for the price point, and even if it’s got work to go, it’s a fun project for myself.
The way I look at it is this, a huge portion of the country buys their $8+ daily cups of coffee, or frapa-thing-a-ma-bobs. I’m not part of that, My “Vice” is gadgets. It’s $100 gamble, It’s $100 of fun. Am I going to compare it with my $1,700 printer? No, I’m fully aware of what it can offer, and it’s limitations. The 101 hero is not a production/business quality device, it’s a toy, something to have fun with, enjoy it for what it is, print some do-dads, models and small toys, understand what it is. Use it as an education tool, or intro into 3D printing. Learn the concepts modify it, experiment, see if the hobby is something you are interested in. If you are interested in remote control airplanes you don’t go out and purchase the $45,000 Air Stryker Jet 2000, or even the $2,000 Flyer Turbo Elite, you buy the basic $200 starter kit. Then crash it, fix it, learn, crash it again, continue to learn, fix it again. As you do this you learn more about the designs, how they function, how to use them and optimize them. Once you stop breaking the $200 model, you buy the $1,000 model, and repeat the process. Or you decide you hate the hobby and are only out the ~$200 or so. Same concept with the printer.
It’s a shame there are scams on kickstarter, but there are also way more wonderful products and opportunities. For $100 I’ll play the optimist and take the gamble.
UPDATE: I received my Hero101 this week about 4 months late. To be expected with Kickstarter projects in general. Quick overview of what I found. I am both disappointed and impressed with this printer.
Build Quality: Not to bad, the only issue I have is the very cheap stepper motors they decided to go with. They are using very low end stepper motors that are mostly using plastic gearing and insides. From the reviews and forms I am seeing many people with damaged/broken steppers. I think they aimed to high and had to compromise on the steppers to meet the price of the printer. The ABS injection molded frame is quite well made, I honestly though this would be a weak/failing part of the printer. It’s been made with very precise molds, it’s sturdy and appears to be able to hold up to a few amount of use/abuse. Controller and power supply are serviceable but ugly, I think some more time could have been spend devising a better way to handle cables and connections. It’s messy and ugly to look at, but fully functional. Time will tell if the controllers and power supplies can last.
Assembly: Dirt simple. A dozen and a half screws, and matching a dozen cables into the labeled sockets. Put Cable A into socket A, put cable B into socket B. They did make a mistake in the printed manual but somebody appears to have hand corrected the mistake with a ball point pen on every single manual before shipping. Silly yes, but it helped to avoid any confusion on assembly. It took me maybe 8 minutes to assemble printer.
Calibration: I ran the first test print for calibration. It was off, so I followed the directions to fix it. Either I didn’t understand the calibration directions, they were unclear, or I was tired. But I ended up making it worse and doing the OPPOSITE of what I should have done to correct it. I fiddled for about 20 minutes and got it calibrated. If anybody else runs into the problem of making calibration WORSE after, try reversing the printed directions, turn set screws in opposite direction as stated.
Printing: It prints. it actually prints. The print quality doesn’t even compare to my primary printer, which is $1,800. I didn’t expect it to, $79 printer isn’t going to touch my $1,800 printer for quality. But it did print. The Items are not nearly as refined, and the layers are thicker. It honestly does not meet my standards for quality for anything I would do professionally but IT’S A $79 3D PRINTER THAT WORKS.
The engineering and design for printer is amazing, but it’s lacking refinement and quality steppers. I think the company should push this printer closer to the $150 mark, replace the steppers, redesign the controller and cables, and could potentially have a marketable usable product.
Conclusion: Would I recommend this printer to someone new to the hobby? No I would not, It has potential but has not yet reached it. It’s a fun project to play around with for someone into the hobby already and more interested in the “ships and giggles” factor of something. I got it to satisfy my curiosity of a project that caught my eye.
Recommendation for first/Cheapest printer: So far the ONLY printer I have found in the SUB $300 range with any value is the monoprince MP Select Mini https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15365 I still recommend aiming higher but if cost is a major factor this is your best bet.
Thanks for sharing this information!