The NewMatter Mod-T 3D Printer - reviewed and liked!

I'm not the fastest to review things - and this one is no exception. It's been about 18 months since I first saw this Mod-T printer from NewMatter - and I finally got to use it and review it a few months ago. Well, It took me even longer to mention it on my blog - but here it is!

Watch the video - or I've posted the text version below it...

I’m always looking for great 3D Printers - at reasonable prices for practically anyone - but especially for educators. The NewMatter Mod-t 3D Printer is a great find in this quest.

I first saw this printer at the NYC makerfaire in 2015, and even back then, just the look and elegance of the printer’s industrial design stopped me in my tracks. Almost a year later, I finally got to test one out for myself. The bottom line is that I like this printer and would definitely recommend it especially for people with a budget under $500.

The unboxing was a pleasant experience - a well-protected printer body, which required almost no assembly, and a well-organized set of well-labeled boxes for the minor parts that had to be assembled and the tools which come with the device.

The clear instructions direct you to their online site to get fully set up - where I had to create an account to continue. While slightly annoying, it was reasonable and worthwhile given the pleasant experience that followed. The newMatter software for set up is not web-based, it runs on windows and Mac - but was easy to get installed. After setup of the software, I was instructed to “download firmware updates” - which went smoothly.

Connecting the printer to my home wifi was mostly easy - but 5Ghz networks were not recognized so you need a 2.4 Ghz network to get up and running. There were some small bumps getting through the complete printer connection process - but within a few minutes I got through that and realized with delight that I would be able to control my printer now from a web interface, which gave super clear instructions on how to finish the printer setup. The site also has simple button controls to do things like load the filament and see the status of the printer. I mounted the light blue 1.75mm PLA filament which came with the printer onto the plastic spool holder which connects to the back of the printer, and loaded it into the hole clearly marked “filament” in the back. Then, I used the web-based printer controls to get the filament fully loaded.

My first print was something simple and small - I picked my simple pegboard hook that I know only takes about 10 minutes to print. Once I figured out how to upload my own models - which wasn’t as clear as I would have liked - but has become easier in latest updates - I uploaded my model and used the clear online controls to setup the parameters for printing. It was set a bit hot - 210C - so I lowered it to 185C and started it up.

There aren’t quite as many printing options as something like Cura for printers which require GCode to be directly loaded - but that’s the whole point of the Mod-T - to make printing simple. So the advanced options are somewhat out of the way intentionally. While there were some general usability issues with the online printing interface, practically all my main concerns have already been addressed - and while it is simple and not for the advanced 3D printing professional, it is easy to use.

At the start of the print, there was certainly lots of print bed movement - which is clearly a process to home the print bed and perhaps auto-level it - but this was not excessive - and after the printer extruded a line of filament on the side of the bed to prep for printing, my object began to print.

The fan of this printer is quite loud without the cover on, but once the cover is on, the printer is pretty quiet - so I can see how that makes it more friendly than other printers which have no enclosure.

I was very pleased with the way the model adheres to this print bed - which is clearly made of a special material which is intended to be good for this purpose. This is becoming more common in printers - and with the dozen prints I did, I had no problems with models adhering to the bed - and used no additional materials like hairspray. Note that I ONLY USED PLA - I did not attempt ABS.

The subsequent tests I did included one of my favorites - a single-print hinge. This model has a bunch of one-half millimeter gaps between parts that are intended to move freely - and you can see in the video that it printed rather well and just required a bit of forcing to freely move the hinge - almost exactly the same amount as that required when this model is printed on a printer which is literally 4 times the price of this one. I was very happy with the results here.

I also printed a few other models including a thin-walled desk organizer in the shape of my initials - which has lots of curves  - and it came out quite smooth - a great result on the first try.

While the Mod-T has a very innovative mechanical design for the bed movement, which completely avoids belts and allows the bed to easily be removed and replaced - it is not necessarily space efficient. The footprint is approximately 15 inches square with the filament spool and 13.5 inches tall. The build envelope is 6 x 4 x 5 inches - 120 cubic inches - which is pretty good for most hobby projects.

I’m not thrilled with the process of changing filament color - but that’s pretty much par for the course for most 3D printers. I’m spoiled by the ease of filament changes in the Polar3D printer.

Overall, the Mod-T seems like an incredible value for an elegant, easy to use 3D printer. While no 3D printer these days is a completely user-friendly appliance - the Mod-T comes closer than many I’ve tried and it’s elegant external design could be on display in your home or even the museum of modern art. At $399, it’s definitely one of my top recommendations for printers under $500 - and while I haven’t used it long enough to call it reliable, I would say that I’ve had no clogs, no failed prints due to adherence to the bed and generally no issues with the software.

The Polar3D 3D Printer - Very Impressive

I discovered the Polar3D 3D Printer at the ISTE Education Conference in Philadelphia last week, where many 3D printer companies attempt to capture educator attention right along side other education technology products. When I saw this printer - 15 of them in fact, all cranking away printing models - I immediately knew it was different and that I needed to try it.

The small footprint, unique radial bed design and apparent simplicity of the technology is what attracted me. The two passionate and experienced engineers who invented this product, who were also running their own booth and answering questions, also got my attention. The web-based printer command center put me over the edge.

Setting it up

From un-boxing to printing took me about 20 minutes. I was being careful and slow, but the one page description which came with the printer - while brief - was pretty much all I needed to get this simple printer into action.
The hardware setup was ridiculously simple. This printer is basically two parts in the box, not counting the power cord and the (almost hysterically funny) cannister of hairspray which is included. Hardware setup was one step (not counting again the plugging in of the cord). The print bed - a round piece of mirrored glass with a big gear on the bottom, just sets into place to fit with the gear on the printer. That, it turns out, is the genius behind this printer's radial design - which overall reduces the moving parts and belts and other things that could go wrong.

Getting the WiFi connection set up was also simple, but to be fair,  might be harder for people who have not done something like this before. Basically it was a matter of connecting my computer to the printer's WiFi signal, then telling the printer about my home WiFi so it could connect itself - then reconnecting my computer to my normal WiFi. Alternatively, I could have connected my computer to the printer directly via ethernet.

The Hardware

The Polar 3D is small and sturdy. It measures just 8 inches wide, 15 inches high and needs approximately 15 to 21.25 inches of depth (12.75" base + 2.25" for the bed movement forward and another 6.25" for the filament spool holder, which is optional). This especially narrow footprint achieves a build volume of 8 inches in diameter by 6 inches high. The radial movement design is what accounts for this rather generous build volume in that small footprint, as the extruder only has to travel the radius of the circular bed - meaning the bed spins as it moves back and forth on the y axis - rather than the whole distance of the y or x axis.
Full specs can be found at the Polar3D website.

The printer is strong and weighty enough in a good way without being too heavy. It is practically all metal, except for a plastic molded handle insert which makes it comfortable to carry. That handle and the small physical size makes it basically mobile, and I wouldn't hesitate to take this printer with me to a school or to the office or even a friends house to show it off and print stuff for a few hours.

Some additional nice hardware features include the built-in micro-camera, which lets you watch your prints live, the easy to remove/clean circular bed, which is by far the simplest design I've seen yet, and the incredibly simple extruder design, which makes loading filament easy. That extruder design lets you use multiple filament types such as Ninja-Flex in the single extruder (by the companies claims only so far - I have not tested this). These are not actually small things - they could be huge differentiators if they all pan out to be working as expected.

The built-in Raspberry Pi micro-controller provides strong performance, connectivity, on-board model storage (16Gb, with about 8Gb avail for models) and more. There are also several connectivity ports, including Ethernet, USB Serial port and a USB Thumb drive port for direct access to stored model files. The printer also includes WiFi - it emits a WiFi signal to gain initial connectivity where you configure it to connect to your local home or school network. This is how I have used this printer thus far with practically zero issues (one time it disconnected and had to be reconnected).

The Software (Web Services)

The Polar3D is more than just a printer. It is a set of very powerful software products and services which have actually made the experience of using the printer an absolute delight. All their software is either installed on the printer directly or available through the web-based cloud services. With my beloved Lulzbot TAZ4, I still use an SD card to run models back and forth between my Mac and the printer for printing, or I connect my Mac directly to the printer. With the Polar3D, I do everything through the web - sending my models for printing directly to the printer. This will be how things are done much more broadly, I am sure.

The Printer Control Panel. 

The built-in camera lets me see the print live in progress,
and see the kids watching it ;)

Polar3D provides a cloud service where you can connect, and control, your printer and even multiple printers. I'm interested to know how to get non-Polar3D printers connected now that I've used and learned to love this part of their offering. I saw the founders control their 15 running printers from their Polar3D cloud interface at the ISTE conference where I met them - and it was incredible and useful.

Since each printer also has a camera onboard, you can see the progress of every print live from anywhere you can gain web connectivity. To go one step further, every print job run is saved in the printer's history - so you can see information about all the prior print jobs, and - wait for it - you can watch a time lapse" video of any prior print which is automatically saved! I can also see the configuration settings from that history and download the STL among many other options. #mindblown

The control panel is one of the most impressive aspects of this company's software offering - and I was initially sure that it was a turn-key provided by another vendor, but it's all theirs. That Web-based (Multi!)printer control panel seems like something that quickly needs to become a service offered separately from the physical purchase of their printers - similar in a way to what MakerBot did with Thingiverse.

Clubs, Objects, Projects and more

The capabilities to organize objects and projects online, through a web-based interface, are also extensive in the Polar3D cloud service. They offer Clubs, Objects, Projects, Collections and more.

Clubs give you the ability to virtually have your own object sharing service which you can manage while inviting others to participate or co-manage. I can see this being used effectively in schools, tech clubs, maker-spaces and more.

Objects (3D Models) can be uploaded and shared through the Polar3D service and the common "favorite" count and "collect" count lets you see how popular they are.

Projects provide educators a place to describe lessons related to 3D Printing, allowing uploads of supportive materials like documents and images. This is a much more general capability than something tied to 3D Printing specifically.

Collections and subjects allow another level of managing and organizing objects. There are public collections and club-based / private collections.

I haven't used all these capabilities enough yet to give a detailed review or critique, but I'm excited about the abilities to both organize and even "white-label" my own collection of objects for both managing and sharing. I'll write more on this later for sure.

The Slicer.

Polar3D integrated the CURA open-source slicer into the printer so that you just feed it objects (.STL files) and it slices and dices (I mean, prints) the object directly. You can get into the CURA settings if you want to, but the point for some people will be that you shouldn't have to. I've found my early simple prints to be really good on the default settings, with minor issues only when I tried to do things like remove supports on a print which really did need some. The interface to the CURA settings is certainly different than CURA itself, but it was easy to find my way around - with tabs for Quick Start, Basic, Advanced and Start/End Gcode.

The Modeler (?).

Yes - there is even a modeling capability built into the Polar3D software stack. That said, I don't use it and didn't really go beyond building a simple stack of shapes. Nor did I try to print anything made in it. I don't see the need for this, but it's potentially useful to have it in cases where you just need a simple model or adjustment in a pinch and forgot your password to TinkerCad or 123D Design ;) (I use the latter and see no reason to change that).

The results

I've printed about a dozen, mostly small, models and I must say the results are incredibly good. When I tweaked the slicer settings to my liking - such as improve the quality (reduce the layer height from 0.32 to 0.2), the results were impressive and consistent. I even tried to print the small, challenging interlocking "Alpha-let" bracelet links, which require good, small precision for the interlocking design to work - and it printed 9 links at a time with perfect results. The prints from this printer required even less cleanup than my TAZ4 (which everyone knows I love).

Since I only had blue 1.75mm filament), I printed one of my favorite blue models - the Google Docs icon I designed very early in my 3D Printing life. I printed one alone, which came out perfect. I tried to print 6 at a time, and again, all 6 came out perfect.

The best test was my own 3D Hinge design. This one is challenging, as it prints both sides of the connected hinge in one run with only 0.4 - 0.5mm between the moving parts - giving lots of opportunity for unwanted binding of the moving parts. There was definitely some unwanted binding in this print - but with a little cajoling and loosening the intended gaps with the clam knife (my favorite 3D Printing tool), the hinge loosened and worked like a charm.

Some early models printed on the Polar3D. All Blue ;-/

Summary

The Polar3D printer is unique in ways which make it very desirable - not just novel. The narrow footprint, simplicity of the hardware, quality print results and robust web-based printing control software all top my list of positives. Of course, the price point - $599 for educators and $799 retail - make it truly a reasonably priced printer for schools and others. Seeing 15 of these printers cranking away making models all night and day at the ISTE education conference gave me initial confidence that this printer was for real - and trying it on my own so far has proven the reliability (albeit early) beyond a doubt. If it turns out that I can actually print multiple filament types - like Ninja-Flex - through this one extruder... wow, that'll really be a bonus!

On the downside.... uh... well.... the build volume could of course be bigger and the power supply transformer could be slightly quieter. Of course there are also small things I might recommend be changed in the software design (if I stretch), but overall, it's incredible how much this small company has already achieved and provided in this printer.

While only having used this printer myself for about 10 days, so far, I highly recommend it. I'm excited about how the unique radial design has simplified the mechanics and how the web-based printing control truly makes life easier (well, for 3D printing, not life in general ;).

Printer Review Video: M3D Micro 3D Printer

Here's a video version of the M3D 3D Printer review that I previously posted here on the blog. Thought it might be easier to get the points across on video.

If you want to buy this printer, use this link.
Disclaimer, it may pay back a commission to me, but I will donate 100% of any earnings to worthy educational causes.

The Tiny $349 3D Printer - first impressions

I've been asked by many people for 3D Printer recommendations for a classroom, or school #MakerSpace. That put me on the hunt for an inexpensive, non-technical, easy to use, space-efficient and reliable printer. At the #3DPrinting show in NYC a few weeks ago I found the M3D Micro 3D Printer - priced at $349 (although the company indicates on their site that the price will soon rise), pre-assembled, small (Micro, actually) and light, and billed as a printer which "can be used right out of the box". One more "important" point: it is so darn cute!

Summary

The M3D Micro 3D Printer is a great starter printer for people looking for low price, small object printing only, space efficiency and simplicity. It often produces good results with simple object models and hides most of the technical details from the user. The M3D is an absolutely miniature cube - measuring about 7.5" in all dimensions - and it looks almost elegant on your desk. It's also not too noisy (compared to other printers). The company offers decent filament (1.75mm) and color choices, and while it seems you're best off buying theirs, for which their printers are pre-programmed to heat and extrude correctly, I suspect using filament from other providers is feasible. In the $350 price range, I think the M3D is a great starter printer.
The main issue I'd like to see resolved (as with all 3D printers) is bed adhesion. I'll continue to look for a recommended solution here - and i'm confident there is one.

There are some things I'm not as happy about, which I've included in a separate section at the bottom of this post - be sure to read those. Overall, in these still early days of #3DPrinting, the M3D hits a hot spot in the market and is a player in that inexpensive, starter printer space. One caveat - I have NOT compared this printer to others in it's class - and there are some that come close to that price point, but not many so focused on non-technical users so far. I suspect there will be many more in the coming year.

Unpacking - Out Of Box Experience

The size and light weight of the box that arrived was shocking. I was sure the 3 rolls of filament I ordered (at $13 per roll) was all I would find inside - but no - the whole printer, assembled, with power supply and 3 rolls of filament was all in that box weighing only about 4.5 pounds! The bright green color of the printer made it a delight to see (they come in several bright colors).

The printer seemed so simple from a mechanical standpoint, that the packaging to secure it was also simple. A bit of blue tape and a couple of plastic holders held things in place and had to be removed before using the printer. Very simple. I found out later that those plastic holders were printed on MY printer as a pre-shipment test run (they should have told me that in the packaging).

Setting Up - Getting ready to print

I clearly got my printer during the early days of M3D's production-delivery business being set up, so you won't experience the piece of paper with super long dropbox URLs to painstakingly transcribe into your browser like I had to endure (that was harder than it sounds). They've moved to short-link URLs (duh).

The main #facepalm horrific moment was discovering that the printer requires proprietary software which, for the moment, is still Windows only. Without a single windows machine in my house, I panicked (overstatement), and after trying to find their Mac Beta software, and hearing that it was not yet stable, I actually went out and bought a super cheap, open-box special, windows machine at Best Buy. While the PC was cheap, this certainly added to my total cost to try this printer. "It better be good" is all I could think.

I installed the M3D software and plugged in the printer. The software quickly identified that my printer needed a firmware update - which finished in just 15 seconds. I did not see any filament hanging out of the hot end, so I assumed there was none and that no test print was done. I followed the directions in the pdf manual online (another looooong URL to type in!) for loading the filament. They have a "filament code" system to make it easy to prepare the printer with the right slicing and printing parameters. In my case (again, accepting that this is just growing pain of a new product) the software first didn't accept codes, and then when I updated it and it did, one of my filament spools didn't have a code. I found my answers online and got back on track.

I was slightly disappointed that "internal filament" was not an obvious choice, as when I saw the printer at the public show, it looked like the filament spool can be loaded under the print bed, making it an even smaller and simpler footprint on the desktop. I left the filament external and moved on.

First Print

I figured a small, simple model - like my Google Docs Logo keychain - would be good as a test. It's small, and has plenty of bottom surface to adhere to the bed.

First try failed. Turns out there was some filament in the printer - so my loading the new filament wasn't completely successful and the first print had to be aborted when I saw that the first few layers were mostly blank and the filament only started really extruding after layer 6 or so. Good news was that the "abort" button on the M3D software works :)

Second try was mostly a success with one caveat. As in all 3D printing, adhering to the bed is challenging. M3D solves that my printing a "raft" under every print. In fact, the first version of software that I had did not include an option to turn that off (now it does). The Docs Logo model looked great (!) but because of the flatness of the model, I simply could not remove the raft without ruining the object. You can see in the pictures what the result was - as my object split or simply ended up with a very rough bottom.

Second Print and beyond

I have a small "link" model that I use for snap-together parts, which is small enough to print fast, but has enough detail to test the printer's capabilities. Here is where I realized some limitations of the printer, at least on the "fast" and "medium" settings. The linkage detail, which makes that object snap together with other objects - requiring accuracy of less than 1mm - simply did not print well enough to be functional. This tiny model also had way too little surface area on the bed, so it came un-done during printing on more than one occasion. I decided to stick to simpler models, and most of these worked pretty well.

Bed Adhesion (of course)

You can see the model separating from the bed

The main issue that I started having is actually no different than the issue I've had printing on my main printer (the super excellent LulzBot TAZ4) - and that is Bed Adhesion. Getting things to stick on the bed is an art (and a science). My only issue on this M3D is that the bed is a unique surface that isn't clear how it should be treated to improve adhesion without ruining the bed surface. I will play with that more for sure - but the company has not yet answered my query on how to do that with care. They clearly prefer a raft (larger bottom layer) to make adhesion work well consistently. Most of my early prints had no issue, but more recently, I've seen peeling at the edges - which you can clearly see in the picture of the Minecraft (tm) sword - so badly on that one that I had to abort it.

Some things I'm less happy about... 

The software is "ok", but not well designed from a user-experience perspective (for example, it doesn't show me how long a print actually took) and has an interface which only a windows user could love ;). The lack of Mac software is temporary, as M3D offered me access to an early test version (not yet stable) - but I expect that will be launched soon. Worth noting for you experienced 3D Printing enthusiasts, the software gives you access to "advanced mode" - but they give a caveat that it may void the warranty. I understand this - but I think it's problematic given the likelihood that many of their customers will be experienced in these early days particularly.

The lack of explanation of how to internally install filament is mostly just disappointing, but it also leaves me without an elegant way to hold my filament externally (there's no spool holder).

The filament itself - at least the blue and red - are somewhat translucent, almost sparkly, which is ok if you want that look, but for a flat solid color, I'm hoping their other filament choices are more opaque.

One important note: The company response has steadily improved over the few weeks I've had this printer, and they've been incredibly honest about their challenges and complete in their followup once they do. I hope they can compete in this incredibly competitive 3D Printer market.