Thanks - yes I’ve seen that video and know its probably a bit of a pipe dream doing what I am proposing with an A1 Mini - was kind of hoping that it might spark some ideals within BL. I have made other versions of the video with more open printers - such as Prusa Mini, which may end up being slightly more feasible.
I do think however some sort of plate swapping solution might work with just GCODE changes - if the problem of locating the plates reliably could be solved.
Am quite tempted to get two A1mini’s in the sale just to try it out - but I can’t help thinking this sale is part of the build up to the release of something interesting - so will probably hold off.
To avoid misunderstandings I have to clarify, that this add-on will not be open source or free. However there will be an affordable kit version, where some downloadable parts will be printed by user, but to build the entire system you will need to purchase a hardware kit (means mechanical parts). The software to run the automation will be included and there will be no subscription or similar. Just a fair purchased product.
Don’t rush success. If it will take longer, but, work without fault, take the time.
You’re not going to be shy of customers.
Launch when ready, if that means in July, then go for July. Nothing will kill your venture faster than having a product that doesn’t work as it needs to.
The level of automation your system aims to deliver requires a flawless outcome as people will rely on it.
Question: is this the first time someone has thought of switching out the magnetic build plates on printers in general or is this just applying something that already exists for other printers to the A1 mini? Because I would LOVE to do this on some of my other non-A1 mini printers.
Thanks I hoped to launch preorder before BambuLabs Anniversary sale ends, but I assume it will not be possible anyway. So you are probably right. I’m actually a very perfectionist person when it comes to technical details. But developing to long and launching at the wrong time can also ruin a lot of potential. Back in 2022 worked on JobOx for MK3 quite long time and when we where ready for launch BambuLab came across with it’s X1C Kickstarter campaign. Overnight literally no one was interested in MK3, it was hard to get reviews by influences and at the end we sold way less then our cautious forecast. So the timing is quite a big deal.
This concept was developed by me and my business partner in 2022 and launched on Kickstarter. It’s available for Prusa Mk3/Mk4/Mini and Caribou. However the system is not opensource.
Keep posting updates here and when you are ready to launch, reach out to a few high-profile names on the forum and the MW site and offer them the kit to try.
Get their take before you make a public release. Just before launch, make sure we all know about it here and I imagine you will have lots of people ready to give it some noise.
Consider shipping out kits to the big YouTube 3D printer people and see what they think. Uncle Jessy, Loyal Moses, Teaching Tech and 3dPrintingNerd are four that spring to mind would enjoy this sort of thing based on their previous videos.
I want to keep up to date with the project, see it in person and use it.
You have a successful pedigree, very few do. It matters that it worked not how many you sold. BL killed a lot of dreams in the 3D world, benefit from that.
Neat! I don’t have any of those printers, but I will subscribe to your YouTube so maybe I’ll catch it if you DO make one for any of the printers I have.
Side note: I understand that It’s important that you guys get paid for your hard work on this and the reasons behind closed sourcing it are valid, but you could seriously expand your customer-base if you switched to a modular system with a closed-source core but an open-source system for attaching it to the printer. That way you could let the community take care of making Jobox work for whatever random printers they want it to work for while you can perfect the actual plate swapping tech. If you ever do, I’d volunteer to try to get this to work with the Elegoo Neptune 4 Max and Pro.
Sounds amazing, but quite hard to design and test. I don’t say its impossible, but close. Its like tailoring suit which fits all sizes and shapes. This would result in a tinkerer compromise which no one wants to use at the end.
I will cut a hole in my printing coffee table tomorrow morning for ejection collection but I need to see this magical ejection mechanism(s) a little better before cutting the glass tabletop. I will tho, this idea is genius!
Cool idea but when slowing the video down it doesn’t actually show your product works. The plate is on the printer and then it is not.
How does it work in with Bambu’s G-code to get the bed to move to the right spot?
Can you say roughly when we can buy it?
I hoped to launch preorder before BambuLabs Anniversary sale ends, but I assume it will not be possible anyway. So you are probably right. I’m actually a very perfectionist person when it comes to technical details. But developing to long and launching at the wrong time can also ruin a lot of potential. Back in 2022 worked on JobOx for MK3 quite long time and when we where ready for launch BambuLab came across with it’s X1C Kickstarter campaign. Overnight literally no one was interested in MK3, it was hard to get reviews by influences and at the end we sold way less then our cautious forecast. So the timing is quite a big deal.