3D printing and crowdfunding have had a long history that is full of some pretty amazing ups and some pretty depressing downs. While the era of garage makers cobbling together a 3D printer or a 3D printing accessory and throwing it up onto Indiegogo or Kickstarter to get enough money to turn their hobby into a business are probably far behind us, crowdfunding websites still have their uses. As more people buy and use 3D printers in their homes, or become more comfortable using services like 3D Hubs or Shapeways, a surprising amount of campaigns are showing up that are selling products that require, or encourage, at-home 3D printing.
Architect and Industrial designer Ekaggrat singh Kalsi — who has certainly caught our eye before — is hoping to leverage the growing number of 3D printers in the home with his recently-launched Indiegogo campaign for his beautiful 3D printable mechanical clock kit. The HOLO Clock has a minimalist design that reduces the mechanisms of a clock down to two rotating rings. The rings have a minute and an hour marker affixed in place, and when the rings are rotated by a small stepper motor and the 3D printed gears, the “hands” move and display the time.
The HOLO Clock is a remarkably simple kit to assemble, needing only a few screws and parts, but it is also an example of fun and innovative product design. Most of the clock structure is made up of entirely 3D printable parts, including the rings, the gears and the main clock structure itself. The assembled mechanism itself is driven by a stepper motor, and controlled by a small Arduino-based microcontroller. The motor just needs to be plugged in with the included AC power adaptor. The kit itself is perfect for anyone looking for an impressive, but simple 3D printing project.
“Do you know a geek who likes clocks? Can you think of a better gift than the HOLO Clock? Spread the word, share this campaign to your network (and real-life) friends. I also need your help to tell me how to improve this clock. Tell me what you’d like to have. Tell me what you like, what you don’t like, and what you’d like to have changed. I’ll see if it’s possible. I would appreciate your valuable suggestions to improve my existing model of the kit. Thank you so much for your interest in my clock. I’m sure you’ll enjoy having it,” said Kalsi, the HOLO Clocks Beijing-based designer on his Indiegogo campaign page.
There are four different options available to backers. The $25 Basic Kit includes all of the non-3D printable components, including the stepper motor, the microcontroller and the power cable. It will also include the STL files for the rest of the clock’s parts that can be 3D printed on the backers home 3D printer. If you don’t have a 3D printer, Kalsi is offering a $50 Complete Kit that includes everything needed to assemble the kit. The $60 Bonus Kit includes everything from the Complete Kit plus a second set of 3D printed parts in alternate colors so the backers can choose the color clock to assemble. And then there is the $200 Premium Kit that includes all of the clock components, but instead of 3D printed parts it includes brass and aluminum parts.
Here is the stop-motion video that Kalsi made for the HOLO Clock campaign:
Kalsi just launched his campaign, and it is expected to run until mid-July. Once the campaign has been funded, Kalsi will begin assembling kit components and manufacturing 3D printed parts in early August, and he is expecting to be able to deliver completed kits by December 2016. You can check out the full Indiegogo campaign, including more images of the clock and its design, here. Discuss further in the 3D Printed HOLO Clock forum over at 3DPB.com.
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