After only a couple of weeks, Snapmaker has set the pricing for their low-cost toolchanging 3D printer, the U1.
Toolchanging 3D printers are multicolor/multimaterial 3D printers. They can print more than one material within the same print job. This is now a pretty common capability, but the difference in how it is accomplished. While most multicolor 3D printers use a single nozzle and swap filaments, a toolchanger has filaments loaded into multiple independent toolheads.
This means there is no requirement for colour purges, which causes a spectacular amount of waste for single-nozzle systems. In other words, far less filament is used on a toolchanger.
Why don’t we all use toolchangers then? It’s because they are more expensive: those independent toolheads add to the cost of producing the machine. Typical costs for toolchanging 3D printers will be in the thousands. Currently, the leading toolchanger is Prusa Research’s XL, which sports five toolheads and is priced at US$4099.
That’s why most 3D printer operators don’t use toolchangers. They’re priced out of the market. Mainly, they are used by professionals with larger budgets for commercial work.
Then, a few weeks ago, Snapmaker announced a new 3D printer, the U1, equipped with four independent toolheads: a toolchanger.
While they didn’t release a lot of details at the time, the appearance of the U1 hinted at a simpler design that might carry a lower cost. My guess was they were going to price the device at US$500 or so.
However, they did not release the pricing (or specifications) at that time, and we had to wait for an announcement.
We can now see the pricing of the low-cost U1. It turns out to be low cost, but there are some twists.
The MSRP for the U1 is set at US$999, which is vastly less expensive than the 5-head Prusa XL. However, during their product launch campaign, they have applied a number of interesting discounts.
The launch price is US$749, an incredible price for a tool-changing system. But there’s another twist: if you place a deposit of US$30 right away, the price drops to US$679.
The US$749 price point is extremely interesting, as it is the same price as Bambu Lab’s P1S Combo. That’s a system that can switch between four filaments, just like the U1. However, because the P1S has a single toolhead, you would waste a considerable amount of filament when printing multicolor jobs.
This is where the U1 would provide significant benefit. Because of filament wastage, a P1S operator would effectively spend more on filament to produce the same multicolor objects. Snapmaker is focusing on this with some calculations in their marketing campaign. The more you print, the more you would save on filament.
They say, for example, that a typical hobby user could save around US$482 per year. The savings would vary greatly depending on how much you print. Let’s do some calculations.
If you were printing ten 100g objects per month with US$20/kg filament at a 50% wastage rate, you’d save US$240 per year with a U1.
But what about a more difficult print with 90% wastage (which we’ve seen many times)? In that case, switching from a P1S to a U1 would save a ridiculous US$2,160 per year if printing those ten 100g objects per month. And that’s not a lot of printing, really.
The U1 seems to be priced right: even if it is a little bit more than some lower-cost bedslingers, it is far more capable and would certainly save money in the long run.
Via Snapmaker
