RapMan version 3.1 The Affordable 3D Printer

Award Winning RapMan

The RapMan has recently won the BETT Award for Best Digital Device at the 2010 BETT show - the world's largest Technology Education event. The judges commented "The RapMan allows for the teaching of many different design principles from initial concept to pre-production prototype, and is a fascinating example of design in its own right.”

What is 3D Printing?

A 3D printer produces a solid object rather than printing onto a 2D sheet like a conventional printer. Our RapMan printer produces the object from plastic by taking a plastic filament, melting it and squirting it out - similar to a hot glue gun. The head is driven in the x and y directions to form a layer and at the end of each layer the print bed lowers to allow the next one to be laid down on top.

In order to produce your object you simply draw a 3D model using almost any CAD package and then save it as an stereo lithography file (STL file). This file is then converted to g-code to produce layers which will be printed.

What's new with version 3.1?

RapMan version 3.1 includes acrylic cross braces which are designed to be easier to fit thus speeding up the build process whilst making it even more visually accessible. It also has fully redesigned electronics which can drive 3 print heads.

Please browse our site and have a look at our Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q.s) tab. If you still have any questions please e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it