3D Printer maker Snapmaker have announced they’re landing in Australia, bringing their popular four toolhead Snapmaker U1 printer to Australia.
The Snapmaker U1 launched as a kickstarter last year, going on to become the most popular, as well as successful 3D printing project to date and it’s hitting Australian shores in October with both JB HiFi and Harvey Norman on-board
The printer includes an innovative (and fast), four toolhead system which lets you print multi-colour 3D Prints – but without all of the waste normally associated with multi-colour printing.
The system uses four independent toolheads, with a different nozzle for each one – with no need to purge between colour changes offering up to 85 per cent less filament waste than other printers.
It’s not just mult-colour, you can also print in a multitude of materials including PLA, PETG, TPU, PVA, PCTG, as well as ASA, ABS, PA and PC with an optional cover offering a way to completely encapsulate the printer to control temperatures.
Snapmaker says that local retailers, Harvey Norman and JB HiFi will be offering rolls of filament making it easy to resupply. The range includes basic PLA in range of colours, which JB is already listing on their site however Snapmaker says Wood filament, as well as PETG, and abrasives including Glow in the Dark filaments will be available next month.
The SnapSpeed filament includes RFID tags that automatically tell the printer what profile to use, though Snapmaker says that there are generic filament profiles you can use for other filaments.
The printer has a 270 × 270 × 270 mm build volume – that’s how large the prints can be – and offers a very economical way to get into multi-colour and multi-material printing.
With toolhead changes taking as little as five seconds, you can prototype and print models faster and in more colours and materials.
Snapmaker Space
Snapmaker has also announced their model portal, giving you a place to check out, download or submit your own designs.
Snapmaker Space is currently in Beta, but offers a very well organised space you can search, with designs also giving you a way to find projects with different filaments like TPU.
You can download designs in Snapmaker Orca, their slicing software, or use the Snapmaker app available for Android and iOS to send designs to your printer.
The Snapmaker app can also be used for monitoring your prints, as well as pausing stopping if you need to and accesing timelapses from the on-board camera, or finding fixes if something goes wrong in their very comprehensive knowledgebase – and if that fails, you can lodge a ticket, all from the app.
Availability and Pricing
The printer will be available at JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman with a special pre-order price of $1,299 until the printer goes on-sale on the 15th of October – with the price set at $1399 after.
Sheila She, Head of Global Go-to-Market at Snapmaker said
“Making digital creation more accessible has always been central to Snapmaker,” said “We designed the U1 to make multi-colour and multi-material printing faster, cleaner, and easier to use, while reducing the material waste commonly associated with filament changes. We’re excited for Australian customers to discover and experience toolchanging 3D printing.”
The Snapmaker U1 will come with four 500 gram rolls of SnapSpeed PLA Filament to get you started, with JB HiFi throwing in two additional rolls for those who pre-order.
Daniel has been talking about, learning about and using tech since he was able to toggle switches and push buttons. If it flashes, turns on or off or connects he wants to use it, talk about it and learn more about it. Like this article? Buy me a coffee!
