Bukito: The Fast, Travel-Friendly Portable 3D Printer

Most of the 3D printers currently on the market are bulky, hard to carry around and rather slow. So it’s pretty hard to imagine one of these gadgets being able to continue printing upside down or in flight.

But the Bukito, from Deezmaker, can do all this and more: this portable 3D printer is sturdy, fast, very light and affordable, making it a promising addition to the personal-use 3D printing market.

The Bukito portable 3D printer weighs only six pounds and has a printable area of 5 x 6 x 5 inches.  The device is equipped with sturdy aluminum rails, which make for a very stable printing platform. Due to this fact, the device is able to continue printing even when carried around or turned upside down.

Deezmaker president Diego Porqueras said the printer was specifically designed to be lightweight and stable and therefore appropriate for travel. The device will be ideal for classroom use and can be easily shared between teachers or students, he explained.

Its rigid construction and the lightweight extruder system allow the printer to work significantly faster than other similar devices. The extruder system is also shorter than others, which gives extra speed and accuracy: the device is able to print at speeds of over 100mm per second.

The extruder system’s nozzle is made of metal, which allows the Bukito printer to work with many different types of materials without risking any damage to the nozzle. The printer uses 1.75mm filament and works with materials such as PLA, ABS and nylon.

For the time being, the printer needs a power outlet to work, but developers are planning to release a battery-powered model as well after they secure the necessary funds for mass production.

Bukito is currently on Kickstarter, where it has already exceeded its $50,000 goal and still has 20 days left of its crowdfunding campaign.

Backers can get an unassembled  Bukito kit for as little as $549 and will receive their order in February next year. There are several kits available for higher pledges, and backers who donate $799 will get their hands on a pre-assembled Bukito, ready for use anytime and anywhere.

Check out the video below to see the Bukito portable 3D printer doing its job in flight and share your thoughts in the comments below:

[Image via 3ders]