I’m not usually one to back Kickstarter campaigns, but when the page for the Snapmaker U1 launched I couldn’t contain my excitement. I had never really felt the need to do multicolor/multimaterial printing as prior to the U1, all available solutions within my price range fed the material through a single nozzle. As a result multmaterial printing was a very slow and wasteful process.
The Snapmaker U1 is a gamechanger as it’s the first affordable 3D printer with 4 independent toolheads. This means it can switch between 4 filaments in a very short amount of time with minimal waste. Using this printer things like text, warning labels and logo’s can be directly embedded into a print with minimal material waste.
Having multiple toolheads not only allows us to print multiple colors of the same filament, but also allows us to combine filament types to achieve different characteristics in different parts of the same print. For example one could make a product with a rigid outer shell and have a flexible hinge embedded into that same cover, all while requiring zero manual assembly. Additionally, the hotends were upgraded to have hardened steel nozzles, unlocking printing of abrasives like carbon/glass fiber enhanced filaments.
I’m finding the printer to be very polished and reliable, finally turning the 3D printer into a reliable tool rather than yet another finnicky project.
Don’t hesitate to contact me for all your multicolor/multimaterial 3D printing needs.