I’m going to blindly buy snapmaker’s next model for sure. They seem like they’re ready to do something cool.
… and if you end up hating it, that’s fine. You just hand it over to me. 
I think it will be good too. I think most printers coming will be good. Theres finally enough people($) buying them to sustain some real investment.
I hope xtool will stay involved too. I think that was the real secret sauce to the u1 success. Its kinda funny to watch. Laser company gets involved, to help a struggling 3d printer company make something nearly as game changing as the x1 release was. To compete with a powerhouse 3d printer company that just so happened ??? to start dabbling in the laser marker. Wish I could hear the conversations being had in these boardrooms
Resin 3D printer that’s supposed to be 1,300 USD
this thing looks freaking industrial grade… how the ■■■■ are they going to keep prices low?
Maybe the small build plate?
Ofc I’m not saying this removes any bit of PPE, I’d still wear a respirator, lab coat, and gloves (as opposed to a hazmat suit, yes, I am THAT scared of liquid resin), its just that it kinda makes me just a little less afraid of chemistry stuff
Userfriendlyness would definitely go up from this product, whether how much it goes up is still unknown.
CO2 lasers MIGHT decrease price through more competition, now there’s another player in the prosumer industry of lasers. UV and Fibre laser could too if Bambu ends up making a good product in those senses too, but I doubt anytime soon. Just realize that Bambu doesn’t have to make another X1 to blast the market forward, they can play the slow game and try to take customers from Xtool so they step up their game because now there’s stakes.
Win-win for us either way, just… I’d not buy one.
lmao they built an auto crane inside.
“Elevated MakerSpace” posted an early preview, I watched it. I do have a full resin setup, but since this is a laser thread on a FDM forum I’ll skip the stuff less suited for here.
Short answer: this will only solve about 40% of the inferno-on-earth that resin printing currently has. But 40% less purgatory is still better than 100% so ugh, great?
That they did it for $999 is kind of impressive, but IMO at large it exactly reflects ‘enthusiast’ resin market - cut throat pricing, “good enough” YoY iteration, and a sadistic user base long ago numb to just how terrible their hobby treats them.
Pour resin - slice - print - wash - dry - cure - clean residue - remove resin.
Assuming they iron out the kinks, it should handle print-wash-dry.
Biggest PITA is definitively here. That said, even dried parts are still soft, sticky, nasty, PPE/disposable gloves still mandatory.
The remaining 60%:
-
Print fails, residues, detachment from bed are stuff you will 100% experience. But unlike similar stuff in FDM, these will be inside the resin so cleaning those up is a nasty process. A full screen exposure (think full bed 1st layer to grab residues) is the current approach, still pretty nasty and drips everywhere.
-
Resin removal & vat cleaning is not needed after every print, but it cannot stay in the vat for long, or should you want to swap resin, pouring a liter of it back to the bottle is as gross as one’d imagine. No matter how much help you get from printed pouring stands, filter etc. They built a system to recycle washing fluids but not resin.
All of this brings odor, toxin, and pretty much requires a room sealed from any sunlights/indoor lights containing UV.
Downside to this automation is that 9 liter tank of 99% alcohol will add substantial cost overheads but, probably worth it for non-sadistic folks. Should’ve been an ultrasonic washers tho instead. Disposal of resin infused alcohol is another nasty crap in itself.
We FDM is just eating too good with AMS, soap and water, and a material nature that is predictable with plenty of control (in slicer). Perfect result 1st try no, but no praying is needed on not getting failed prints. Resin printing is fundamentally a screen and Z screws, less control, more voodoo, often slow&painful trial and errors each time with new files (if one run is perfect, the same file it will be very repeatable). HeyGears claims one click printing for dummies but it’s only kind of true for the advertised types of models, with poor supported surface.
I ordered qty1 of the creality i8. I told myself I wasn’t ever gonna go back to a creality, but here we are… lol. I might dismantle my E3V2 and attach some of its brains and bones to the i8, as a warning of what is coming if it misbehaves.
How about this one ?
HeyGears G1X: First Desktop Full-Color 3D & UV Printer
HeyGears collected on Kickstarter funds for the G1X series, a desktop device for full-color 3D printing, UV-Printing on solid surfaces and textile printing. According to HeyGears, it is the first desktop printer to combine these processes in a single machine.
The price is under $5,000, equivalent to around €4,300. According to HeyGears, the device delivers approximately 90 percent of the performance of industrial systems at around one-tenth of the cost.
G1X is powered by the Epson i3200-U1HD printhead, bringing creators a major upgrade in color performance, UV print speed, and output precision.
Its 8-channel ink system unlocks 10M+ colors and up to 12x faster UV printing than 6-channel F1080-based UV printers. With 3,200 nozzles precisely controlling each ink droplet, G1X delivers richer 2D UV prints and more refined full-color 3D creations.
The G1X supports three operating modes: full-color 3D printing, 2D UV printing and 3D texture printing, and textile printing. In full-color 3D mode, it produces three-dimensional objects with color gradients and transparent areas. These transparent and colored sections can be combined in a single continuous printing process. The maximum build volume measures 420 by 330 by 130 millimeters. Water-soluble materials support the print. The company particularly highlights hollow or internal structures, where supports would otherwise be difficult to remove.
The G1X uses separate material systems for the various processes. The UV ink covers 2D and 3D texture printing and, according to the manufacturer, adheres to more than 400 substrates, including acrylic, wood, leather, glass, metal, and ceramics. The company also cites optical effects such as holographic and lenticular prints.
Full-color 3D printing uses a UV resin that colors models without subsequent painting. The water-based ink, meanwhile, is designed for textile printing and is suitable for both DTF transfer printing (Direct-to-Film) and DTG printing (Direct-to-Garment). According to HeyGears, the inks carry certifications under OEKO-TEX and GREENGUARD Gold.
Clogged nozzles are considered the most common problem with ink systems. HeyGears counters this with four measures: An agitator keeps the white ink in motion, a heater in the printhead keeps the viscosity constant, the device starts automatic cleaning cycles when idle, and during longer pauses it seals the printhead to keep it moist. In addition, there are three cleaning levels. The first checks and moistens the nozzles, the second draws ink through the system for daily maintenance, and the third flushes the system with cleaning fluid. The manufacturer recommends deep cleaning when switching between printing processes.
On the software side, the package includes HeyVerse AI and Blueprint Studio. They can be used to generate models from text or images and to convert 2D templates into textured prints. The printer has a modular design and supports add-ons such as a rotary attachment, a flatbed, roll-to-film, and a resin station.
If interested, here’s more to see here:
Qidi Plus 4 just got its next generation. Looks quite good and priced quite well. [$700ish w/ promo]
https://qidi3d.com/products/plus5
The +4 is a really good device, I love mine. Rough experience with the UI but it crushes ASA/ABS like you were printing PLA, and doesn’t crush your electric bills. The “AMS” is meh but works reliably. I ordered the big brother!
Flashforge have a similar machine also currently crowdfunding (CJ-25somethihg) (EDIT CJ-270)
As well as costing several thousand, these machines require fume venting to the outside (a filter will not do) plus mask and gloves. The UV is expensive compared to FDM and will dry out if the machine is not used for a while. Furthermore I do think they currently have the material for functional printing so all you are going to be making right now is desktop ducks, signs, and gaming figures.
Having said this, I am certainly going to get one of these 2 machines just as soon as they come out of beta test. (I usually avoid the Mark 1 of anything hence I need to wait for the tech to be mature in this price range)
Yeah I’m not positive the bed tech is the important part, but they really let you get the heat done right. I honestly suspect the side panel insulation and thicc plate. Efficiency has always been a leading indicator of quality IMO. Less heat pumped in means its all just more stable to begin with.
I’m a bit odd [shocker] and scan my space with a thermal camera every now and then, and am always surprised to see the q+4 glowing, like the morning after a print that wrapped up in the evening, powered off.
Which of either the current or announced printers are you guys most excited about getting, if any? Right now I’m more excited about the Sunlu FilaDCi10, which isn’t even a printer, but just a step in the right direction on the war against filament moisture. That said, the 10 spool bambulab multi-tool (multi-head?) printers looks like it might be exciting, if I knew anything beyond just rumors about it from patent filings. Probably the new flagship, with a price to match, releasing when? A year from now? Longer than that risks irrelevance.
Meanwhile, i8 production scheduled to start this month. That fight could maybe usurp the low-end since the speed advantage seems undeniable, and I truly do believe speed sells when the speed gap is that large, even when the manufacturer is UnReality.
I spent this years machine budget buying trial amounts of all the new value tier printers that looked interesting to me, and that was fun and immensely educational. Next year I’m buying a lot of whatever snapmaker makes next, so long as they dont steer their ship off a cliff or something.
I’ve continued to got my eyes out for something that has a laser onboard for the purpose of MARKING prints while printing - like a QR code or serial number sort of capability, nothing fancy. Imagine the X2D with a laser instead of that bowden, quick swap, laser the thing, swap back, keep printing…