Creality launches conveyer belt 3D printer for continuous part printing

Founded in 2014, Creality focuses on the design, research and production of 3D printers and 3D printing related products. The company covers a range of technologies such as FDM and resin 3D printing. Most of you will have heard of Creality’s affordable FDM solutions, they are part of 3 distinguishable series: Ender, CR and CP. It’s latest addition to the CR-series is none other than the 3DPrintMill, a cross between a traditional 3D printer and a conveyer belt. Created in collaboration with Naomi Wu, this 3D printer is her vision coming to life thanks to the R&D investment and engineering expertise from the Creality team.

The Shenzhen-based company recently launched a Kickstarter campaign, which hit its goal of HK$1,000,000 (about US$130,000) in the first 24 hours! They have also said that when the 3DPrintMill reaches US$5 million in crowdfunding, the whole machine, CAD files, BOM, firmware, schematics, will be made fully Open Source. In other words, anyone will have access to the source code to make their own version, iterate and improve on it. So, what are the features of the 3DPrintMill?

Adding a conveyor belt: what are the benefits?

You might ask what is the purpose of combining a 3D printer and conveyer belt. Creality explains that the 3DPrintMill enables continuous, unattended part printing. In other words, as parts are 3D printed, the heated belt, which works like the build plate, advances. As it advances, the parts detach themselves naturally and fall into a bin. This reduces the need to remove the printed pieces from the heated bed before starting another print job. The 3DPrintMill can process an entire 1, 5 or 10-kilogram spool of plastic filament to make plastic parts with no human supervision. The conveyer belt is made from nylon, and is expected to last years with regular use.