Kickstarting 3D printer BigBox wants to rock the boat in today’s 3D printing market. It offers more in every category for much less money.

The new BigBox 3D printer series is about to hit Kickstarter in the next few days. What makes it unique is that its creators aim to achieve a top level performance in all aspects instead of focusing on the development of specific strong points.

This means BigBox is made to print relatively large objects at high resolutions, fast, and at a low acquisition cost. This (hopefully) upcoming product range are the first results of the collaboration between the UK-based E3D (known for excellent metal hot ends and extrusion) and LittleBox (electronic and motion control systems) companies.

E3D’s engineers want to develop four versions (Lite, Pro, Dual-extrusion, and Factory). They cost ranges from 740$ to 1370$.

All four will boast a build volume of 300 x 200 x 280mm, a print resolution of 6.25 microns and a layer height of 50 microns. The max print speed is 50mm/sec for the Lite version and 100mm/sec for the rest.

The features sound promising.

1. Special features include an auto-leveling function. It absolves the users fiddling around to get the build plate perfectly flat.
2. A high-precision extrusion system will work seamlessly with almost every filament available in the market today.
3. A vibration absorbing frame that utilizes bearing supports in every corner.
4. Finally, a well ventilated and robust casing that allows for the easy access of the electronic and firmware parts.

All these facts have, of course, to be proven in the final product.

The sheer comparison of BigBox with the largest players in the market is characteristic. BigBox boasts 320% better printing resolution compared to Ultimaker 2 at 33% of the price while it offers 220% the build volume of MakerBot Replicator at 22% of the price.

The best part may be that the BigBox series will be fully open source and thus completely hackable. All the plans for the laser-cut frame and the 3D printed design files will be available for users to download so that they are free to modify and improve their machine in any way they like.

We’ll keep you updated on this one.