Anyone jump on the Smapmaker U1 Kickstarter? I just heard of it several days ago so I was to late. From the videos I have watched it appears that it will be a decent printer. I like the idea of the tool changer not wasting all the material like the AMS type multicolor printers. The other thing that caught my eye was that because of the separate tool heads it would be much easier to PETG got supports on a PLA print. Using water soluble filament is more practical too as it almost eliminates the waste.
All the videos I have watched so far have been beta testers with prototype units. I’ll wait until some production units get into the wild and see how they far then.
Yeah, I’ve been watching the Snapmaker U1. Also the Bamboo H2C, and the Prusa Core One. All are promising tool changers using different designe, from changing only the hot end to changing the extruder and everything. This is all interesting. But I’m starting to think it might be wise to wait and see. Which approach is going to win out? How reliable will it be? Where will the cost settle? Will any of these new designs be abandoned soon? We truly live in interesting times!
Rumor has it that the Core One will be getting the Bondex tool changer. I haven’t seen it anywhere but could be interesting. I thought about doing the pre-order on the U1 but didn’t like the idea of Snapmaker using my money for 6 months. I do think that the tool/hot end changer is the wave of the future. It just makes so much more sense than the AMS style of multiolor, but the AMS beat the heck out of the IDEX printer I had, could never get the 2 hotends in sync.