[UPDATE 10/21/2021 -After 2018 I started posting my updates on my Patreon page, and so I'm filling in the back-logs for this project retroactively so the whole story is in both places. You can also read all of these posts with their original photo formatting here]

July 31st 2019 - 

This month I built a whole new trash printer! The one that I have been using was intended to  be a proof of concept, and now that I know it works, it's time to scale up! Being able to print flower vases is cool, but I want to print whole surfboards!

The new version utilizes the 3D-printable "LowRider2" CNC gantry. It took me about 4 days and $10 worth of filament to print all of the parts I needed to build it, and I spent this months budget on the rest of the parts. Here's the breakdown:

Control Board - $127

Non- Printable Parts (Wheels, belts, etc) - $85

Hardware- $24

Bearings and Motors- $45

That's right, that's a whole large-format CNC gantry for around $300. I had some of the parts lying around already from previous builds, and I was able to laser-cut and 3D print the parts I needed, so that brought down the price quite a bit, but still, once tuned we're looking at a large-format trash printer that people can build themselves for less than $500!

There are still a few things to do before the new gantry starts moving, but I think the print quality is going to be much better, and it will be able to print objects that are 6.5' x 2' x 1', which is going to be really fun.

So stay tuned, and thank you for all your support! I couldn't do this without you!