Filamate from Vienna just kickstarted a crowdfunding campaign for a 3D printing starter toolkit. Let’s take a look at what they offer.

If you are a 3D printing beginner, things can be a bit overwhelming. There are so many new things to learn and understand you probably feel a bit confused. Also, there are some nagging questions: Do you need a 3D printer? What are you going to do with it? Where can you get designs? And how can you design the thing you want to print?

This is where the Kickstarter campaign from Filamate wants to help.

If their crowdfunding campaign gets to €20.000, they will ship a starter kit for 3D printing beginners to their backers. This 3D printing beginners kit “will unleash the creator in you. It provides just about everything  you need to get starter – the tutorials, the designing environment, the materials and all the necessary tools to make your creation kick-ass.”

What’s In the Boxes?

Filamate offers two “StartMate Packs”. “Basic” costs €49, Premium €99. Both should be available beginning of March.

In general, their offer consists of

1. filament for 3D printing. The filament delivered will be available in 1.75 mm and 2,85 mm.
2. The most common finishing tools you need for 3D printing.
3. Access to a 3D printing design and education platform.
4. Also, you can back for a month‘s access to their 3D printing platform for €6. It provides “a simple online 3D modelling environment that we have designed from scratch just for you. Step-by-step tutorials guide you through the whole process – modeling as well as retouching the desired object, and finally preparing it for printing. No more roaming around the Internet for complex software solutions.”

Should You Back the 3D Printing Beginners Kit?

That’s a tricky question.

• First of all, the 3D printing starter kit won’t be of any use if you don‘t have access to a 3D printer. So you need a Fablab or a Makerspace near you – or a good mate who owns a 3D printer.
• If you go to a Fablab, you don’t need a filament spool (which is around 30 to 40 bucks if you buy one). Also, you don’t bring gas to a rental car, do you? The filament is usually provided. Also, changing the filament spool can be a real pain for 3D printing beginners.
• If you are interested in building tinkering, you probably got most of the tools provided already at home. Brushes, paint, gloves, spatula and sandpaper are pretty common households items. Also, Fablabs and Makerspaces often provide these basic tools.
• What we find interesting are the step-by-step tutorials. They should guide you through the whole process, from modelling to retouching to printing to finishing. But: No one has seen them yet.
• If you want to try out 3D printing now, you have to wait for 4 months for the kit to arrive – even if all hardware components are already available.

On the positive side, we don’t find Filamate’s 3D Printing Beginners Kit overpriced. Also, we like the idea of a box, which you can stow away after use. But if you really need these tools, that’s for you to decide.