The World's First 3D Printed Printing Press

We recently stumbled upon Martin Schneider, a freelance illustrator based in Germany. Martin has designed and built the worlds first 3D printed etching press.

Martin highlighted that the unavailability of a press is one of the main challenges for people that want to try printmaking. The project took place over the course of 5 months and resulted in 10 prototypes, printing more than 100 proofs and using a kilometer of filament.

Naturally, we had a go at printing one of these ourselves, and its amazing! Printed on our Stratasys uPrint SE Plus, the ABS plastic offers an extremely robust and durable model which truly functional.

After more than 300 years of nonexisting innovation in the design of a printmaking press, this project is a breath of fresh air. The final prototype is able to print on a 70 x 100 mm paper and the whole assembled product fits comfortably into a shoe box!