Rapidshape is a company based in Germany, one year old, which specializes in creation of jewelry, via a process of lost wax casting. There are three Rapidshape S60 models offered by the company, called mini, midi and maxi. The material used by these 3D printers during the printing process is a resin that is photo-sensitive. The three different models look the same, but they differ internally, offering different print resolutions and object sizes.

Rapidshape S60 mini has a resolution of 0.03mm and a size of 84x48x200mm, useful for the production of dental parts and filigree jewelry.

Rapidshape S60 midi comes with a resolution of 0.05mm and it measures 122x69x200mm, useful for jewelry parts.

Rapidshape S60 maxi has a 0.06mm resolution and a size of 150x85x200mm and it’s ideal for all kinds of parts.

The printing speed for all the models is 1 cm at every 10 minutes, which is quite fast for the models available these days. All of them can print multiple objects at the same time, the speed remaining the same.

The S60 printers come with software for internal management, which is capable of storing 500 print jobs, allowing them to be more easily used for production purposes. The prices of the resin or the printers has not been announced at this point.

The MakiBox 3D printer is a small model, which is about the size of a sheet of paper. The builder of this printer is a guy from Hong Kong, called Jon Buford. When released, the kit will cost $350 (out of which $50 is for global shipping), with the version that comes already assembled costing $550.

The concept of this 3D printer appear on Makible, a site which is similar to Kickstarter, but it specializes in getting project funding for hardware. It’s been a success, as you can see on the project page, the project having already full funding. If you choose to support it, you know that it’s already going to be built. It needed 100 supporters and it has 231 at this point, with $93,900 in funding already available.

The MakiBox would be the first affordable 3D printer, good enough to reach the mainstream consumer, not just the hardware enthusiasts that use them as a hobby. It’s also self-contained and simple enough to use. On the same site, the producer of the MakiBox will also sell the plastic that you will use to create objects with this printer. One kilogram of ABS filament will cost $20, plus the cost of shipping. The sizes available will be 1mm, 1.75mm and 3mm.

The Replicator 3D printer is built by MakerBot and it was released at the beginning of 2012. It was designed to create large 3D models and there are two configurations available, in either one or two extruder configurations. This 3D printer can create models using either biodegradable PLA plastic or ABS.

Their initial models of this company, which was created in 2009, were capable of printing models which were the size of a cupcake, but the Replicator 3D can create objects the size of a loaf of bread. The price of the printer with a dual extruder (which lets you use two colors at the same time) is $1,999. The version with a single extruder will set you back $1,749. [Buy it from Makerbot.com]

Welcome to the 3D Printers blog, where you can read about the latest news related to this wonderful new technology that is 3D printing. 3D printers have the capability of changing the way we acquire new products and in the next few decades it will probably keep changing and improving. The cost of a 3D printer is in the thousands of dollars right now and their capabilities aren’t that great, but the potential is clearly there.

Take a look around the blog and learn more about this technology, about the printers available today and the things that are possible with them.