RepRapMicron V0.03 - micron accurate 3D printer

A 3-axis 3D printer with ~micron accuracy. Prints in 10-20μm dots of resin using a fine probe tip. Can also manipulate.
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updated May 18, 2025

Description

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RepRapMicron is the next small thing in 3D printing, brought to you by The RepRap Project. The idea is to create a micron-accurate 3D printer than uses common, cheap parts, and that can be built by the average 3D printer or CNC enthusiast. These files hold all the printable parts needed to make one, and they print without support. See the GitHub wiki for printing minutae.

It uses a 3D axis system based on flexures, which can achieve accuracy to within a few microns - possibly better with some calibration. It is controlled by standard 3D printer or CNC electronics, and everyone has their own flavour so the project does not constrain which type you use.

It builds things in UV resin (and other materials) on microscope slides in a 4mm x 4mm x 4mm build volume. It achieves a tiny feature size of 10μm-20μm by using a fine probe tip (easily made by a clever electrolysis trick). The “FAB” image in the photos section has a human hair on the left to show you the scale, and that is at nowhere near full resolution. As the things it makes are so small (a) you need microscopes to see what you're doing, and (b) the probe tip can also be used to manipulate the objects that you have made.

The details on making and operating one is a bit beyond the scope of a Printables summary. The design files can be found on https://github.com/VikOlliver/RepRapMicron and the build documentation is on the wiki there.

Be aware that this is the beginning of a new field, so software to control this new process is in early stages of development. There is no operating manual as such. There are utilities to print in 2D from PNG files, and a very alpha driver for PrusaSlicer.

It is an adventure. Ride the lightning.

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