# Unibody 3D Printers The Tiko 3D Printer Has Prealigned Beams That Reduce the Need For Maintenance By Rahul Kalvapalle | Published 2015-04-02 | Tech Source: Trend Hunter, https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/tiko-3d-printer References: [gizmag](http://www.gizmag.com/tiko-unibody-3d-printer/36836/) & [tiko3d](http://www.tiko3d.com/) The Tiko 3D printer is a new [budget 3D printer](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/qidi-plus-4), currently the subject of a [Kickstarter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/color-3d-printers) campaign, that is designed to make it easy to bring interesting, peculiar and unconventional design choices to life while minimizing costs. Crucially, all of this is done without compromising on the [quality of the print](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/precise-3d-printer). The use of an inexpensive, single-part 'unibody' frame -- that requires very little calibration -- makes this possible. Usually, 3D printer's frames are the most expensive components of the machine. Multiple beams that need to be of a high standard also have to be regularly aligned during their lifetime to ensure a consistent performance, raising costs. The Tiko 3D printer's unibody design incorporates pre-aligned beams. 3D printing is one of those activities that has a lot of potential but won't be more widely adopted unless costs of maintaining 3D printers goes down. The Tiko 3D printer bids to do exactly that. ## Trend Insights (Trend Hunter) - Score: 3.3/10 - Popularity: 52% | Activity: 39% | Freshness: 8% - Audience gender: 50% men, 50% women - Primary generations: Millennial, Gen X - Top markets: North America, Europe, Asia ## Categories [Trend Hunter](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends) > [Tech](https://www.trendhunter.com/tech) > [Gadgets](https://www.trendhunter.com/gadgets) ## Key Themes ### Why This Trend Is Growing - **Unibody 3D Printers:** The use of an inexpensive, single-part 'unibody' frame with pre-aligned beams in Tiko 3D printer reduces maintenance costs and produces quality prints - disruptive innovation opportunity lies in streamlining of additive manufacturing and democratizing design. - **Budget 3D Printing:** Tiko 3D printer's affordability and reduction in maintenance costs offer disruptive innovation opportunities in desktop 3D printing for home-based and hobbyist users, as well as enabling educational institutions and small businesses to offer prototyping and production services in-house. - **Consolidated Calibrations:** The Tiko 3D printer's pre-aligned beams can reduce the frequency and complexity of maintenance tasks, offering disruptive innovation opportunities in industrial 3D manufacturing for lowering production costs, reducing downtime, and increasing volume output. ### Industries Being Reshaped - **Additive Manufacturing:** Tiko 3D printer's unibody design with pre-aligned ultra-light beams offers disruptive innovation opportunities for streamlining 3D printing - especially in areas of prototyping, modeling, and small-scale production. - **Desktop 3D Printing:** Tiko 3D printer's affordability and easy maintenance offer disruptive innovation opportunities in home-based and hobbyist 3D printing scenes, specifically in enabling users to customize designs, create personalized products and services, and experiment with new possibilities and materials. - **Industrial Manufacturing:** The use of Tiko 3D printers with consolidated calibrations can offer disruptive innovation opportunities in large-scale manufacturing and production industries, including aerospace, automotive, architecture, and medical, by improving speed, precision, reliability, and cost-effectiveness of additive manufacturing processes. ## Related on Trend Hunter - [Efficient 3D Printing Systems](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/color-3d-printers.md) - [Compact 3D Wood Printers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/lulzbot-mini-2.md) - [Personal Manufacturing 3D Printers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bambu-lab-h2d.md) - [Collaborative 3D Printers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/flsun-t1.md) - [Budget-Friendly 3D Printers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/type-a530.md) - [Cutting-Edge 3D-Printers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/snapmaker-u1.md) - [Entry-Level 3D Printers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/kokoni-ec2.md) - [Feature-Packed 3D Printers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/bambu-lab-p1p.md) - [Innovative 3D Printers](https://www.trendhunter.com/trends/innovative-3d-printers.md)