15-Year-Old Developing a 3D Printer 10x Faster Than Anything On the Market 203
New submitter jigmypig writes: One of the main issues with 3D printers today is that they lack in one area; speed. A 15-year-old boy named Thomas Suarez is developing a 3D printer that he says is the most reliable, most advanced, and faster than any 3D printer on the market today. In fact he claims it is 10 times faster than any 3D printer ever created. "There's something that makes me want to keep going and keep innovating," he says, laughing at being asked if he'd be better off outside climbing trees or riding a bike. "I feel that my interests will always lie in technology. Maybe I should go outside more but I just really like this stuff."
Re:He's 15... (Score:2, Informative)
Have to been to the malls lately? No one hangs out there anymore.
Re:Bet it doesn't work (Score:5, Informative)
Yep. Also, adhesion starts to be a problem at high speed.
The printers can move their parts much, much faster than they print at, and they typically do so when positioning a head without extruding. They can also churn out plastic pretty fast too, though you have to crank the heat way up to get the temperature hot enough for the fastest extrusion.
If that's the problem then a series of pre-heaters could work, but I don't think the raw speed is the problem with these machines.
It's why one does the outer layers slowly. You get better precision that way.
Re:Another child making unsupported claims (Score:5, Informative)
If an adult made this same claim without backing we'd label them a scam artist.
Except he really isn't claiming much. It is easy to make a 3D printer go fast, if you don't care about quality. Many existing 3D printers have a "fast" mode for quick prototypes, and a "slow" mode for higher quality parts. Of course, it is hard to get speed and quality, but I don't see where he says he can do that. Also, I don't see where he claims it is 10x faster than "any existing" printer, as the summary says. He only claims that it is 10x faster than a Makerbot.
Re:Another child making unsupported claims (Score:4, Informative)
I will quote the kid's own video on the subject (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1Clhn9t-u8)
"The most advanced, the most reliable, the fastest 3D printer ever created"