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• 

  Created by

  makerbot
• Created on Dec 9, 2010
• Featured on Jan 24, 2011

Fully Automatic

With the automated build platform it will keep printing and printing.

The automated build platform is truly a revolution in 3D printing. It allows you to have a print queue where your machine will clear the build surface between builds and print objects one after another. This turns your MakerBot into a little factory that sits on your desktop. Best of all, this is completely automated: you hit print, and the machine does all the work. Want to print 100 butterflies? Easy. Want to print an entire chess set? No problem. Want to start a business selling printed things that you've designed? Awesome. Have the bot do all the work while you design new things.

Extremely Reliable

The MK5 plastruder will give you thousands of hours of trouble-free printing.

We've invested many hours into designing, testing, and tweaking the MK5 plastruder. The result is an extruder that is extremely reliable, and very simple to maintain. The hot end on this extruder is essentially unbreakable and the filament drive system is one of the strongest on the market. We've run these things for thousands of hours with minimal problems. Changing the filament is a breeze with the filament pressure thumb screw. You can even swap the filament while the extruder is running if you're fast enough.

Higher Quality

The layer alignment is much better which results in nicer prints and higher resolution.

We've completely overhauled the drive system to give the optimum positioning accuracy. The entire system has been upgraded to sturdy 3/8" diameter linear shafting. This is probably overkill, but you can trust that the axes will be sturdy. We've also switched to self-aligning, sintered brass bearings. These are very forgiving to DIY assembly and provide a nice, smooth motion on the steel shafts. Last, but not least we've completely replaced the Z axis with a stepper driven, cantilevered stage. Guided by two of the linear shafts, this completely eliminates any Z wobble and results in nicely aligned layers. Using a high-angle lead screw, we were able to increase the speed of the Z axis from 150mm/minute to 1000mm/minute. This means the layer changes are almost completely imperceptible and reduces blobbing significantly.

Easier to Use

Connect over USB and hit print - the machine will detect its position and start printing.

The new electronics have been designed to make the printing experience even easier than ever. The motherboard now sports an integrated USB port, so you simply plug the MakerBot in with a standard USB cable. We've also added full endstop support so that you never need to touch the XYZ axes ever again. When you hit print, the machine will automatically home itself, heat up, and begin printing. All you have to do is sit back and relax while your MakerBot does all the work. Living in the future is awesome. Oh yeah, and the electronics are all inside, so you don't have wires dangling everywhere.
Technical Specifications

* Interface: Serial over USB or print from SD card.
* Size: 12" W x 12" D x 16" H (roughly 300mm x 300mm x 400mm)
* Usable Build Area:
* With Automated Build Platform: 100mm x 100mm x 100mm
* With Acrylic Build Platform: 110mm x 110mm x 120mm
* Generation 4 Electronics
* Supports up to 5 stepper drivers (XYZ + A/B)
* Connect over USB
* Optional LCD interface support
* Full endstop support
* High current mosfets to drive heated build platform and extruder heater
* Thermocouple support for accurate temperature sensing
* Power Usage: XX watts, standard ATX power supply.
* Works with both 110v and 220v power.
* Theoretical XY Positioning resolution of 0.02mm (20 microns or 0.0008")
* Theoretical XY Maximum Feedrate of up to 5000mm/minute (roughly 200 IPM)
* Theoretical Z Positioning resolution of 0.005mm (5 microns / or 0.0002")
* Theoretical Z Positioning Feedrate of up to 1000mm/minutes (roughly 40 IPM)
* Accepts 3mm polymer filament
* Capable of printing with ABS and PLA

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