Kickstarter is quickly becoming the go to place to buy a 3D printer anymore. Why spend all the money on a MakerBot Replicator 2 when you can buy an open source 3D printer for just a few hundred dollars, right? Well, that’s the thinking behind the latest affordable 3D printer to hit the crowdfunding Web site and it just might deserve your attention.

Inventor Chelsea Thompson took to Kickstarter just a few days ago with what she calls the QU-BD One Up – an open source production ready 3D printer that anybody can afford. How affordable? You can buy the assembly kit that includes all the parts you need for a 100x100x125 build area for only $199. If you want a bigger build area, that kit will cost you $279.

Unlike most ambitious 3D printer projects on Kickstarter, Thompson only asked for $9,000 to bring the QU-BD One Up to market. In the first three days of her campaign, 71 backers have already contributed over $18,000 to the project. With 27 days left in the campaign, there’s a lot of potential to reach even greater heights. After all, her previous Kickstarter for an open source universal 3D printer extruder raised over $73,000 back in July.

If you want to build your own QU-BD One Up, that’s totally acceptable as the design is completely open source. Thompson says that she’ll released the source files a few days before the Kickstarter campaign ends on November 18. On that day, you’ll be able to see how her team built it, and build your own using off-the-shelf components.

[Image: Chelsea Thompson/Kickstarter]
[h/t: 3ders]