Earlier this week, Buffalo, New York startup, Tiko, took to Kickstarter with a mission to raise only $100,000 for its innovative “unlike-the-rest” unibody 3D printer. Within the first two days, the project captured its initial goal, and now, just four days into the campaigning, the printer is nearing $750,000 thanks to over 4,300 backers.
As previously reported, the creators of the Tiko Unibody 3D Printer designed the device to make it high quality and easy to use. Unlike other 3D printers that are bulky, difficult to assemble and may easily be damaged, the Tiko is unibody, which means the whole frame is one piece, easy to manufacture and virtually impossible to misalign. All for the price of $179.
The company stated:
“Tiko is a 3D printer unlike any before it. We meticulously designed every piece of it to make it high quality and easy to use, while keeping costs down in order to achieve a great price. So, what makes Tiko different?
“Tiko is unibody. That means the whole frame is one piece, introducing an amazing array of benefits. Easy to manufacture. Virtually impossible to misalign. That’s how you get a quality 3D printer for $179. Tiko printed a vase at a 200 micron-resolution, but it can print as fine as 50 microns.
“Thanks to unibody, Tiko is also enclosed. Whereas most 3D printers have problems with warping prints, Tiko’s enclosed print chamber means that prints are isolated from the outside environment, resulting in strong and consistent print results, even when the wind blows.”
While revealing more details about the printer, the team explained:
“Tiko is a delta 3D printer with three sets of arms moving in unison to control the movement of the print head (more on this later). The essence of Tiko’s innovation is our discovery that delta is the ideal configuration to unlock the many benefits of unibody.
“From the very beginning, we were determined to make an accurate printer. Tiko’s unibody construction and delta mechanism have been carefully designed to deliver exceptionally high mechanical repeatability without the need for high-precision components. That’s right, you heard us. Even without high-precision components, Tiko is still able to print incredibly consistent layers.
“Tiko printed the vase pictured above at a 200 micron-resolution, but it can print as fine as 50 microns.”
Other features include:
Enclosed printer chamber: all prints are isolated from the outside environment making the results strong and consistent.- Larger sized printer: Tiko has a slender unibody frame, delta mechanism, and ultra-compact liquefier/end-effector that enables the printer to print objects larger.
- Flexible: Users are able to easily remove larger objects from the printer due to the print bed being flexible.
- Non-proprietary: Uses non-proprietary 1.75mm filament on a standard 1kg 165mm (6.5in.) diameter spool.
- Wireless: Printer can easily connect to the cloud and users can bring virtually anywhere, even from smartphones.
During a recent update, the Tiko crew thanked backers for their help with the project and their thoughts about the already Kickstarter-success:
“The support we’ve received from the Kickstarter community has been incredible. Our Earliest Bird deal was gone in under three minutes (that’s crazy) and we rocketed past our goal in just three hours! We’ve also been fielding some amazing questions in our campaign comments and working hard to answer all of them.
“That said, our journey has just begun. We want everyone who’s ever dreamed of owning a 3D printer to have a Tiko, so we’re continuing to spread the word about our campaign and today we’re being featured on…”
While the early bird perks are gone, backers can still contribute to the campaign and they will receive the 3D printer for the amazing price.
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