So how has the Snapmaker campaign been going?
Snapmaker blew apart the desktop 3D print world a few weeks ago with the sudden announcement of the U1, a tool-changing desktop FFF 3D printer.
Toolchangers are very powerful 3D printers because they do not generate waste when changing colours during print jobs. However, the extra expense of using multiple toolheads has made tool-changing equipment out of the budget of most folks.
Until the U1 showed up. The machine at launch provides four toolheads and is priced at only US$799. That’s far, far below any other toolchanger on the market, and in fact about the same price as many of the waste-generating desktop 3D printer combos available today.
This left buyers with a choice: spend X on a 3D printer that would waste an enormous amount of material, or spend that same X on a 3D printer that did not.
The answer was very clear: Snapmaker’s Kickstarter campaign basically exploded, with totals reaching US$10M almost right away. It’s now definitely clear that 3D printer operators want toolchangers, not filament swapping machines.
This finding caused turmoil among desktop 3D printer manufacturers, which had all been counting on filament swapping combos. Some manufacturers were likely developing their filament swapping systems and hadn’t even launched them before the U1 appeared — and no doubt messed up their plans entirely.
Only one manufacturer had a comeback: Bambu Lab. Only days after the rush of U1 orders occurred, Bambu Lab announced a new technology they’ve been working on in the lab for a couple of years: Vortek.
Vortek is a method of performing multicolor 3D prints, but without any waste. In that way, it is similar to a toolchanger, but instead of swapping the entire toolhead, Vortek swaps only the hot end. This requires the use of a filament swapper accessory, but there’s no waste generated.
At the time of the Vortek announcement, I wondered whether it would affect the flow of U1 orders. After a couple of weeks, we now see that the U1 campaign has a total well over US$17M, closing in on US$18M — and the campaign is still going on until the end of the month! It’s quite conceivable that they might even hit US$20M in orders for the U1 by then.
My thought is that their total would likely be even higher had Bambu Lab not announced Vortek. It’s certain that some buyers, especially those familiar with Bambu Lab equipment, would hold off buying a U1 if they knew that a more or less similar device was coming from their favourite 3D printer manufacturer later in the year.
Regardless of what happens by the end of the month, we know several things:
- Toolchangers (or similar waste-free technology) is the only way forward for FFF equipment.
- Snapmaker will be one of the leading 3D printer manufacturers.
- Bambu Lab’s Vortek system is almost certain to be a huge success for the same reason the U1 succeeded.
- Other companies will have to catch up in both technology and price points.
It’s a new FFF world.
Via Kickstarter and Snapmaker
