Early leader in the 3D printing space Makerbot may have just been acquired for $400 million, but we still can’t forget about the Form 1 3D printer out of FormLabs.
It started as a Kickstarter project, which received 6x its $100,000 goal in just one day, topping $1.4 million in one week. Since, we’ve had the chance to review it and pit it against the Makerbot.
However, the two are quite different:
The Form 1 shines a laser onto a metal surface through a layer of resin. Using a process of photopolymerization, the slices are laid down one after the other creating a solid object that lifts out of the resin as it is built. Think of the Makerbot as a stalagmite maker — the material is laid down on a platform — while the Form 1 is a stalactite maker where the object hangs from the platform that slowly moves up.
They also have different price tags: The Makerbot Replicator 2 costs $2,199 where the Form 1 goes for $3,299. However, Biggs found that the Form 1’s resin-based approach offered much more precision and a higher resolution result.
Two flys.