Get your Mojo with the Industry’s Newest Desktop 3D Printer 

If you follow 3D printing, you know all about Stratasys --  maker of additive manufacturing machines for prototyping and producing plastic parts. Founded in 1988 by Scott and Lisa Crump who first experimented with building 3D objects from household goods and hobbyist tools in their kitchen, today the company is leading the American Manufacturing Renaissance.

In fact, Stratasys products are used in the aerospace, defense, automotive, medical, business and industrial equipment, education, architecture and consumer-product industries. The company has a track record of pushing 3D printing technology to the limits, putting rapid prototypes and functional end-use parts into the hands of industrial designers and manufacturing engineers everywhere.

Sure you can buy consumer-grade 3D printers priced for as little as $500. But why would you? After all, you get what you pay for, right? And let’s face it. Those do-it-yourself printers do not have Stratasys moxie, or Mojo for that matter.

Introducing The Mojo 3D Print Pack -- the market’s lowest-priced professional-grade complete 3D printing system.

The Mojo measures only 25” wide by 21” deep at 18” in height (64 x 53 x 46 cm). The product is sold in a “Print Pack” and includes the Mojo 3D Printer, WaveWash 55 Support Cleaning Systems and all the necessary supplies you need to get started.

Project Specifications:

Build platform:             5” x 5” x 5” (12.7 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm)

Layer Thickness:             0.007” (0.17 mm)

Model Material:            ABSplus in ivory

Support Material:            SR-30 soluble

Power Requirements:6A @100-127VAC

Workstation Compatibility            Windows® XP           

As with a paper printer, no training is needed to get it set up and running, and settings are selected at the host computer, not the printer itself. Modeling operations are easy with Mojo’s preprocessing software, Print Wizard, which helps users efficiently manage workflow. Support material removal is also a simple process with the included.

To prove ease-of-use, Stratsys asked Todd Grimm, president of T. A. Grimm & Associates, to conduct a third-party evaluation. During a press conference I attended at Stratasys last month, Grimm stated, “Stratasys is poised to shake up the market again with a complete professional system that breaks the $10,000 mark.” According to Grimm, it’s counter-intuitive to get a low-price 3D printer with high quality. Grimm was able to unpack and print a 3D part in about 45 minutes easy. He estimated the bulk of people could get the system working in 20-30 minutes -- some in just 12 minutes or less.

New Modeling Technology Ensures Reliability

Mojo employs an innovative variation on traditional FDM material extrusion. The ABS material spool and the print head are integrated to a single package, called the QuickPack print engine. To ensure optimal reliability, a fresh print head is part of each material change. Material loading is similar to snapping in an inkjet cartridge on a paper printer.

All Stratasys machines are aimed at professional designers. According to Stratasys, consumer 3D printers on the market do not have the same part quality, reliability and ease-of-use that Stratasys FDM Technology™ delivers.

The Mojo is perfect for designers performing concept modeling applications. It uses durable, thermoplastic material to create high-quality parts, which will allow parts to be used as functional prototypes, jigs and fixtures – in addition to end-use parts.

“We wanted to offer a complete system to our customer with everything needed to build parts," says Stratasys Product Manager Mary Stanley. "We are focusing on building the Print Pack – printer, removal station and startup supplies – so there are no surprises when people purchase a printer.”

Stratasys sells the Mojo 3D Print Pack for $9,900 USD. Leasing options are available in the US and start as low as $185/month. Mojo can also be purchased as a stand-along unit without the full printing package. The units will begin shipping June 15, 2012.

Stratasys will display Mojo at RAPID 2012 in Booth 132, May 23 & 24 at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

“The name Mojo implies magic, which is how some describe 3D printing upon first witnessing it,” says Stratasys VP of Global Marketing Jon Cobb. “You can buy a less expensive 3D printer, but for the serious designer or engineer, Mojo is the lowest-priced product that offers professional-quality output, comes as a complete package system, and uses industrial-grade thermoplastic material. I expect this will be of interest not just to engineers and educators, but entrepreneurs and independent designers as well.”

Stratasys Mojo: The New Face of FDM

• Low price
• Designed to look and feel like a 2D printer
• Very reliable
• Easy to use
• Developed to serve thousands of designers and developers worldwide

According to Stratasys officials, the new printer is expected to grow the business. In 2001 the company sold 95 systems, the company sold 2,000 systems in 2011 and anticipates selling 6,000 systems by the end of 2012.

"We’ve done it before and think this new product is as, if not more, innovative than other products we've developed," added Cobb.

Will history repeat itself? The company is trying to attract people with price, while maintaining all of the qualities and customer experience that is unique to the Stratasys purchase experience.

Mojo is a genuine, patented Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM®) system, and the newest addition to Stratasys’ lineup of additive manufacturing machines for prototyping and producing plastic parts. Stratasys markets under the brands uPrint and Dimension 3D Printers and Fortus Production 3D Printers, and manufactures 3D printers for Hewlett Packard, which it sells under the brand Designjet3D. The company announced a merger with Objet to create a 3D printing entity worth $1.4 billion.

-----

This story was written by Nadra Angerman who blogs regularaly about 3D printing, rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing at RapidProductDevelopment.biz.