RealSexyCyborg and Creality Team Up to Bring You Continuous 3D Printing

Injection molding is still your best bet if you need to manufacture identical plastic parts in large quantities, because it is very efficient and affordable after the initial investment in tooling. 3D printing can, however, be useful in manufacturing if you only need to produce parts in small quantities or require the ability to change designs on the fly. But even then efficiency is an issue, as a human attendant needs to be available to remove completed parts from the print bed. Fortunately that will soon be unnecessary, as Naomi Wu, AKA “RealSexyCyborg,” and Creality have teamed up to bring you continuous 3D printing.

Wu, China’s most popular YouTube maker, and Creality are launching the new 3DPrintMill through Kickstarter, and the crowdfunding campaign has already reached more than $620,000 in funding. That’s an astonishing number considering that the campaign started today and will be running for another month. People are throwing their money at this campaign because 3DPrintMill isn’t just another 3D printer. Thanks to the groundbreaking conveyor belt print bed, 3DPrintMill can print and then automatically eject parts without any human intervention. That means an unattended 3DPrintMill can churn out part after part, finally making 3D printing a viable option for manufacturing. The number of parts it can print is only limited by the size of the filament roll you use.

3DPrintMill also has a Z axis that is theoretically infinite. The conveyor belt bed is oriented at a 45 degree angle relative to the rest of the printer, which lets the extruder print onto the belt as it moves. New material can continue to be added even as one end of the part is ejected from the conveyor belt. In testing, they have printed a part 20 feet long. The other dimensions are, of course, more conventional. It can print parts up to 200mm (7.87 inches) wide and 170mm (6.69 inches) tall. All of the other specs are similar to what you’d find on a typical mid-range consumer 3D printer. The belt is heated and can reach 100°C and the hot end can reach 240°C. Because this is such an unusual 3D printer, special slicing software is required. That software, called CrealityBelt, is provided. This design isn’t proprietary, so it is likely that other slicers will support the 3DPrintMill in the near future.

If you want to get in on the action and purchase a 3DPrintMill, the Kickstarter campaign will be running until December 18th. When it hits the wider market, this 3D printer will retail for $999, but super early birds can currently snag one for just $588. Rewards are expected to be delivered in May of 2021.