Maplin to sell 3d printer

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**Wolfstan**

UK's first commercial 3D printer on sale in Maplin for £699.99
The Velleman K8200 will be available from July 9

Electronics retailer Maplin will sell the first 3D printer for home use in the UK, available in stores from July 9 and priced at £699.99.

The printer in question is the Velleman K8200 (see below for a promotional video), which will arrive in kit-form for customers to assemble (Maplin suggests that this will take around 10 hours) and comes with 5 metres of polylactic acid (PLA), the basic building material for the printer.

3D printers work by building up layers of plastic to form a solid object. Anyone can design objects using 3D modelling computer software, and many sites already exist (such as Shapeways) for individuals to share their creations.

The only limitation is the size of the Velleman’s build envelope, which is a relatively small 20cm x 20cm. This allows users to print small objects such as a chess set (piece by piece) or a phone case. Maplin say that objects will take approximately 30 minutes to print.

“We have been excited about 3D printing technology for a long time, as its principles of innovation and creation sit perfectly with what Maplin has been doing for over 40 years,” said Maplin Commercial director Oliver Meakin. "Until now, the cost of 3D printers limited their use to the professional market. However, the Velleman K8200 kit has enabled us to introduce 3D printing to the mass market.

"We selected this model primarily because it offers high performance printing at an affordable price, making it accessible to our customers. In addition, it requires assembly before use, which fits with the 'build it yourself' ethos so central to Maplin's heritage."

**daedalus**

That's actually surprisingly expensive for a 3d printer.

Do you have a link for specs?

**Ouze**

Specs are here

Linear ball bearings: 8 and 10 mm
Technology: FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) for PLA and AB
Power supply: 12 V / 3 A max.
FTDI USB 2.0 to Serial, ArduinoTM compatible
(Sanguino derived motherboard)
Dimensions of printable area: 20 x 20 x 20cm / 0.78 x 0.78 x 0.78"
Typical printing speed: 120 mm/s
Maximum print speed: 150 to 300 mm/s (depending on the object to be printed)
Extrusion nozzle: 0.5 mm
Extrusion thermistor: NTC 100K
Extruded aluminum profiles: 27.5 mm wide
Movement: 4 NEMA 17 stepper motors
Resolution:
Nominal mechanical resolution:
X and Y: 0.015 mm (smallest step the printing plate can move in the X and Y direction)
Z: 0.781 µm (smallest step the printing plate can move in the Z direction)
Nominal printing resolution:
Wall thickness (X,Y): 0.5 mm
Layer thickness (Z): 0.20 - 0.25 mm
Software: Repetier version 0.84 and up
included: 5m PLA black sample
System Requirements: A computer to Print from (Windows, MAC or Linux) & an Internet Connection for Manual and construction instructions.

You guys don't have more options available; or is this just the first UK-based manufacturer? Since the plans for like a Mendel can be downloaded from anywhere; be surprising 3d printing isn't as advanced in the UK as it is, well, just about anywhere else.

**daedalus**

Well, okay, not surprisingly expensive, I guess. They're all still pretty expensive, but I've seen a lot of decent quality ones sub-1000 USD.

I just wonder if this one brings anything to the table that the lower priced ones don't.

**Ribon Fox**

Link for those that wish to see the page,
http://www.maplin.co.uk/3d-printer
that said; Who wants to buy a slightly used kidney for £700?

**Skinnereal**

This is the first, I think, high-street stockist of 3d-printers.
There's no maker-shops (or whatever they're called) that we hear about in NY, AFAIK.
We can order online, and some schools here have Makerbots, and maybe others.

This is the relevent part, I think:
Nominal printing resolution:
Wall thickness (X,Y): 0.5 mm
Layer thickness (Z): 0.20 - 0.25 mm

It does mean that my 5 years of looking at reprap.org is going to waste, and it's time to get the parts to build one.

**Ejennings**

Not bad £699.99 for a 3D printer. However, there are cheaper unassembled kits around £300-£500. 3D printing is already starting to have an impact for the mini-gaming industry. I just saw several wargaming miniatures at Shapeways and Thingiverse. It gave me an idea to work on my own 3D printed miniature using this material http://www.3d2print.net/shop/3d-printer-filament/nylon-filament/.

**Kilkrazy**

Various colour print service shops in central London have had in-store 3D printing available for two or three years.

I never did anything but unless you want to print a large amount of stuff it almost certainly will be more cost effective to take your files to a print shop than to buy a printer for home use.

**chaos0xomega**

Still not good enough to produce a mini

**Alpharius**

One year later?

No significant improvements then?

Also - please check the date on the last post in a thread before posting in it, especially is you found it via the 'search' function.

Thanks!

**chaos0xomega**

lol, its all ejennings fault!