This Might Just Be the Cheapest 3D Printer Ever

It was only a couple of decades ago that 3D printers were priced in the tens of thousands of dollars and were generally only accessible to corporations. Then the RepRap Project came along and developed FFF (Fused-Filament Fabrication) 3D printers that were affordable enough for hobbyists to own. Over the years, the capability of consumer 3D printers has dramatically improved while the prices have simultaneously plummeted. But the cheapest FFF 3D printers still cost around $200. Accessible3D has been working on a printer that is far cheaper, and their Inspire 3D Printer costs just $35 to build.

Until recently, FFF 3D printers were the most affordable kind of 3D printer on the market. But LCD-based resin 3D printers have reached similar price points in the past couple of years. Those 3D printers use a transparent LCD to mask UV light to form the shape of each layer. The UV light cures photosensitive resin in a vat in the unmasked areas, so the part can be formed layer by layer. There are few moving parts (just the Z axis) and LCD screens are cheap today, which has makes these 3D printers quite cheap to build. They are also usually capable of producing finer detail than FFF 3D printers. The only downside, aside from the messiness of resin, is that the print volume of resin 3D printers is usually much smaller than FFF 3D printers.

To keep the cost down, the Accessible3D Inspire 3D Printer takes that to an extreme with a tiny 2.2” LCD screen. That means you only have a few cubic inches of print volume to work with, but that could still be enough for small parts. As was the case with many RepRap 3D printers, the cost is further reduced by using as many 3D-printed parts as possible. An ESP32 microcontroller development board is used in place of a dedicated controller board, since it only needs to control the LCD, Z axis motor, and UV LEDs. A Fresnel lens helps to properly focus the light from those UV LEDs.

All of the components needed to build an Inspire 3D Printer, aside from the 3D-printed parts, can currently be purchased as a developer kit for just $30. The filament for the 3D-printed parts should cost approximately $5. But “developer” is the key word there, because this 3D printer design isn’t yet ready for the consumer market. Accessible3D hasn’t even been able to successfully print any parts with the machine yet, but they are making progress in testing. For the time being, you should only purchase the developer kit if you’re interested in helping with testing and development. But if the design can be refined to the point where parts can be printed somewhat reliably, this will be the cheapest 3D printer on the market by far.