Accelerate with Snapmaker

This year, we sponsored Schumacher CLRT, a Porsche Racing Team, who made the most of the Artisan and J1s, using 3D Printed, Laser Cut, and CNC’d part to dominate races all over the world, from Spain to Italy to Macau to Saudi Arabia.

This wasn’t the only team we sponsored as part of Accelerate with Snapmaker – find out more here.

Snapmaker Supercharged Cinema

Check out these projects from our friends all over YouTube! Whether its building a special tool missing from your workshop, putting together the ultimate trap to catch Santa, or building a time-traveling Delorean, Snapmaker’s 3-in-1 machines make it possible.

Unleash the SnapDryer

At Formnext 2024, we unveiled our first collaboration with PolyMaker, the SnapDryer.

• Dry and store your 3D filament in one solution with this modular design. Say goodbye to your filament’s moisture, and hello to your project’s creativity!
• Buy it here!

Key Products

1064nm Infrared Laser Module

Released in the Spring of 2024, the 1064nm Laser Module unlocks a whole new set of ultra-fine, precision engraving capabilities to your Snapmaker machine.

• Find out more here.
• Buy it Here!

Artisan Premium 3-in-1 3D Printer

In June we released the Snapmaker Artisan Premium, the Ultimate 3-in-1 Machine. It comes with a dual extrustion 3D Printer Module, a powerful 40W Laser, and a 200W CNC Module, with a massive 400mm³ workspace.

Supercharged Software

Upgrade to Snapmaker Orca

Snapmaker users have been asking for official support for their 3rd party integrations for a long time – you asked, we delivered.

• Join the Beta here.
• Dive into the details on the Snapmaker Wiki
• Support: https://snapmaker.formcrafts.com/support-ticket
• Join the Discussion: https://forum.snapmaker.com/t/snapmaker-orca-v1-1-0-beta-issues-report-discussions/38235/5

Videos Galore!

Big Contests, Bigger Prizes

In 2024, we started running regular Snapmaker Video Contests, kicking it off with Winter Wonderland (okay, technically that started in 2023), and developing this into a new contest every month or two!

Prizes ranged from free Snapmaker products to mega cash prizes, up to $1225 USD for the Home Alone Video Contest!

Click on one of the tiles above to check out the contest and view the video gallery of submissions!

Or check out the playlists on YouTube.

Vertical Videos

In 2024 we had the pleasure of launching our Short Video Project, a little behind-the-scenes effort to dramatically increase the number of short videos we post. These videos come from our in-house graphics team, user generated content, and external professional studios.

Follow our accounts!

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/snapmakerinc/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Snapmaker/shorts
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@snapmaker_global
• RedNote (小红书): @snapmaker

8th Anniversary Maker-a-Thon

June 1st was Snapmaker’s 8th Anniversary, so we held our annual Maker-a-Thon. 10 Teams, 10 Projects, 1 Big Party.

You can check out our Blog Post here: https://www.snapmaker.com/blog/8-years-of-playing-well-join-the-celebration-with-play-well-makerathon-artisan-premium-launch-and-more/

And make sure to download your Snapmaker Mini 3D Printable Models here! https://wiki.snapmaker.com/en/important_installation_tips_for_mini_snapmaker_models

Here’s to Snapmaker: Year 9!

Sincerely,

The Snapmaker Team

The post Snapmaker 2024: In The Rear View Mirror appeared first on | Blog.

Hi makers,

On the occasion of the 5th Anniversary Virtual Party on Oct 15,  we were delighted to welcome new members to the Snapmaker 2.0 family, the Snapmaker 2.0 AT models and F models! Snapmaker 2.0 AT models are the latest generation of Snapmaker’s modular 3-in-1 3D printers, whereas F models are more beginner-friendly versions that provide more flexibility in creation. Both AT models and F models are upgraded versions. In the following, we are going to unpack the upgrade. 

First thing first, what stays the same?

It must be our commitment to the modular design. Just as Snapmaker 2.0 A models, AT models are equipped with a powerful and expandable modular system beloved by many users worldwide, which allows you to switch among 3D printing, Laser cutting and engraving, CNC carving functions easily. F models only have a 3D printing function for now, but it is also expandable and can be customized into a 2-in-1 or 3-in-1, or even 4-in-1 3D printer just as you like.

But seriously, what has been improved?

Power Module

Noise from the machines has long been one of the major concerns in our community. We never overlook them; instead, we strive to improve our products based on valuable user feedback. Previously in July 2020, we introduced the Enclosure for Snapmaker 2.0, which can help reduce the noise. Now we take a step further to fix the problem. By adopting a much quieter fan in the Power Module, we are able to decrease the noise level by about 16dB[1]. The fan no longer runs at full speed all the time as in Snapmaker 2.0 A models; rather, it becomes more responsive and works in accordance with the real-time temperature. The light status shown on the Power Module will tell you if the Power Module is doing just fine.

3D printing Module

A newly-designed cooling system, quick-release hot end mechanism, and the improved extrusion components in combination elevate the printing efficiency and consistency. By optimizing the motion controlling algorithm, we made significant improvement on layer missing issue (especially around the corner) while performing high-speed printing. Compared to A models, AT models and F models can achieve the same printing quality at a faster speed thanks to the optimization of both the cooling system and motion controlling algorithm.

Linear Module

As for the Linear Module, we embedded TMC2209 stepper motor driver chips to achieve an ultra-silent work environment. This time you won’t be disturbed by the noise while operating our machines. Accordingly,  we also increased the leads of the X and Y axes’ screw rods from 8mm to 20mm; yet, with this upgrade the actual 3D printing accuracy will not be undermined. With the above-mentioned improvements, the noise level of the whole machine will maintain at about 50dB[2] during the operation.

For more information about the differences among Snapmaker 2.0 A models, AT models, and F models, please refer to the infographic below.

How to upgrade your Snapmaker 2.0?

We now offer 50% OFF on 3D Printing Module, Linear Module, and Power Module for Snapmaker 2.0 users. We will send over the 50% OFF promo code by Oct 26. Please pay attention to your mailbox!

Here are the terms and conditions of the code you need to know:

1）The code is applicable only for the 3D Printing Module, Linear Module, and the Power Module for Snapmaker 2.0.

2）The code is valid only once per customer. We recommend replacing three upgrade modules at the same time. If you need to purchase other specified modules later, please contact our customer service to get a new discount code.

3）You should select the corresponding website link (US store, EU store, Non-EU & US store) according to the shipping address when placing the order. 

4)  If you purchased your Snapmaker 2.0 from Kickstarter or Shopify, you will receive a discount code from us by Oct 26. If you purchased your Snapmaker 2.0 elsewhere, please contact our customer service to get the code: info@snapmaker.com. 

5）If your discount code is not available, please contact our customer service as well: info@snapmaker.com.

Thank you all for supporting our upgraded products AT models and F models. Hope you enjoy creating wonderful things with the help of Snapmaker 2.0 series!

[1]  The test result was obtained in the Snapmaker laboratory, which may vary according to the testing conditions and product iteration, and is for reference only.

[2]  Ibid.

Happy making!

Team Snapmaker

The post Upgrade guide | From Snapmaker 2.0 A models to Snapmaker 2.0 AT models and F models! appeared first on | Blog.

Without further introduction, let’s get into our yearly recap for 2020. Here is a quick rundown of the events listed by month.

Snapmaker’s 2020 event timeline (listed by month)

January：

Snapamaker 2.0 won CES Innovation Awards.

Start shipping the first Snapmaker 2.0s

February：

COVID-19 broke out in China, stopped production and started to work from home, which unfortunately led to production and shipping delay

Released the Snapmaker 2.0 enclosure, which comes with an exhaust fan and laser filtering side panels

March：

Snapmaker Luban RAM Optimization and DXF support

Open source Snapmaker Luban and released luban.xyz

Despite the pandemic, we cooperated with more distributors (22 more in 2020).

April：

COVID-19 worldwide breakout, we designed DIY protective gear, EVA goggles, Snap Face Shield, EVA Mask in the hope of alleviating the situation and reached out to our distributors in need.

May：

Opened our EU online store, which is available to users in 27 EU countries

Further shipping delay for the Snapmaker 2.0, but we moved to a new warehouse to expand our production capacity.

June：

New Laser & CNC G-code generator Workflow in Snapmaker Luban

Snapmaker Luban SVG editor functionality

Released Snapmaker Public Roadmap and new shipping schedule, more transparency and better communication with our backers

July：

Attended TCT Asia 2020

Production planning, fulfillment, logistics and inventory capacity are significantly improved.

August：

Shipped the last batch of Kickstarter orders for Snapmaker 2.0

Accessories and filament available on our website and Amazon

September：

Start shipping Pre-orders for Snapmaker 2.0

Fulfilled our second Kickstarter campaign

Snapmaker 2.0 Rotary Module revealed

Improved packaging for the Snapmaker 2.0 enclosure, which is more environmentally friendly and protective

October：

Snapmaker Makerathon

2020 Chinese Education Equipment Exhibition

November：

Multi-language support, Japanese and French for touchscreen and QSG respectively

Auto Update feature in Snapmaker Luban

Open source Snapmaker 2.0 controller firmware

We now have more than 100 employees.

Customer complaint rate has drastically decreased compared to last year.

Snapmaker 2.0 3D printing module optimization (improved airflow and less material waste, new design in production in February 2021)

December：

New 3D Printing Settings and Manual Support feature in Snapmaker Luban

Finished shipping Snapmaker 2.0 pre-orders

Prepared to ship Snapmaker 2.0 locally worldwide

We have shipped over 20k Snapmaker Originals and 25k Snapmaker 2.0s in total.

Customer Service satisfaction rate increased to 98% (over 10% increase)

Hardware

Snapmaker 2.0 (Modular 3-in-1 3D printer): For us, 2020 was the year of Snapmaker 2.0. We had an amazing campaign run on Kickstarter and raised over 7.8 million USD. We strived to deliver the product we promised, and so we did. We started shipping the first Snapmaker 2.0s back in January and continued to ship more units around the world. The Snapmaker 2.0 won the CES innovation awards and was featured and highly rated on All3DP and TechRadar. Since the launch of Snapmaker 2.0, we’ve made quite some adjustments to a couple of early issues with the Snapmaker 2.0. We’ve added 5×5 calibration to both auto and manual leveling and fixed the Wi-fi bug. We also upgraded our laser safety goggles. The ones that come with the Snapmaker 2.0 are among the best in its class in terms of laser filtering and cost.

Snapmaker 2.0 Enclosure (addon): The Snapmaker 2.0 Enclosure was released in February, 2020, and over 45% of our backers opted to purchase the addon. It provides excellent protection during machine operation, and has laser filtering side panels and many other benefits such as noise reduction and fumes extraction.

Snapmaker 2.0 Rotary Module (addon): In September 2020, the Snapmaker 2.0 Rotary module was announced for the first time and it was available for pre-order early January 2021 for our backers. It elevates your CNC making experience to another dimension figuratively and literally. It enables your Snapmaker 2.0 to rotary carve and laser with the 4th axis added. Detailed-focused CNC desktop applications are now made possible.

Snapmaker 2.0 Emergency Stop Button (addon): The Snapmaker Emergency Stop Button was released along with the Snapmaker 2.0 Rotary Module and provides an extra layer of safety for users and people around the machine. It helps prevent or stop further potential damage to the user or machine.

Hardware improvements

Needless to say, we have been spending a lot of time designing and refining our products to offer the most premium user experience to our users. At the core of Snapmaker, it is essential to listen to our users as best as we can. We don’t just call it the end of a purchase when your order sets sail, but instead it is the beginning of our journey together. With providing continuous support and updates in mind, we have been aiming to push software and firmware updates monthly since the launch of the Snapmaker 2.0, and along with the patches and hotfixes, many early bugs have been ironed out.

We made a number of changes and improvements to the Snapamker 2.0. The first change was the 3D printing module, which was redesigned to offer a better cooling solution. We optimized the airflow of the module and it is larger and cooler. The filament runout sensor is improved and the chances of erroneous warning are lowered. The thermal resistor and heating tube inside of the hot end are tied together so there is less of a chance of the thermal resistor accidentally falling out. The number of gears inside of the module was increased from 9 to 14 and their edges are smoother. The printing material is less likely to get stuck in the gaps between gears, which helps minimize material loss.

The linear module will soon receive an upgrade too. We started to perform aging and other tests on the linear module back in April last year. We ran 40 machines for hundreds of hours continuously at the highest speed to check for consistency. We replaced and ran comparison tests between 5 different springs and recorded the results in terms of current, force, internal temperature, noise level, and position accuracy. A better design for the linear module was found and the new version would have an even smaller variance in printing size capacities.

Another focus was to eliminate the noise made by the linear module, which was reported by some of our users. We started experimenting with different driver chips and tested their power output, force output, and heat dissipation. According to our findings, our alternative driver chip passed our internal tests while running more quietly. The overall noise reduction is expected to be 3-4 dBs. Users will enjoy all these upgrades in the new Snapmaker 2.0 for the same price. We are also bringing improvements to the power supply. More updates will be released later this year.

Firmware and software

In June, the Snapmaker 2.0 controller firmware received a complete overhaul and its code was refactored based on FreeRTOS V10.3. The new operating system controls the workflow of multitasking between machine components. It opens the door for maker enthusiasts for making addons of their own. Over the past couple of months we’ve brought various bug fixes and new privacy settings to the firmware. Users have a better and more robust 3D printing experience when using the new firmware. The data transmission and wireless experience have also been improved. In November, we fulfilled our promise and the Snapmaker 2.0 controller firmware is officially open source and you can access its GitHub page here.

The module firmware became open source in October 2020. The potential of controller and module firmware both being open source is unfathomable. We are also developing Snap-star, a standalone piece of hardware that is essentially a “translator” for the machine. Users can DIY addons themselves by connecting to the ports on Snap-star. It’s possible that you can control your Snapmaker 2.0 with a gamepad one day.

We put in a lot of effort optimizing and improving the slicing, SVG editing, and 4th axis CNC functionalities in Snapmaker Luban as well. And we are fairly content with the result. Although some of the features are still lacking, we believe we are in the right direction and Snapmaker Luban is only getting better. In 2020, we added RAM optimization and support for DXF files. We also added an SVG editor so you can create basic shapes and text within Snapmaker Luban with only a few clicks. A new laser and CNC G-code generator workflow was implemented and the “Laser G-code Generator” and “CNC G-code Generator” are split into two tabs “Edit” and “Process”. The interface is more intuitive now and easier to work with. There are many more changes and improvements made to the Snapmaker Luban and they are listed here on our forum thread.

A significant change to the Snapmaker Luban, however, is that it became open source in March 2020. We made a dedicated website luban.xyz for it. We hope that the Snapmaker Luban will grow better with the help of yours. In return, the software will benefit both the maker community and Snapmaker in the long run. The Snapmaker Luban is free and open source and will stay that way.

Improved customer support with 98% satisfaction rate and better communication

We have grown considerably in 2020 and now have over 100 employees. Our customer support department expanded, and we, as a team, focused a lot more on customer support in 2020. Compared to 2019, we received 258% more tickets and inquiries in 2020, and our customer support team is better trained to provide more optimal resolutions. Because of that, both the response rate and efficiency have increased. Our customer support satisfaction rate is now at 98%, which is the highest it has ever been.

Moreover, we’ve much enhanced our communication with our users through newsletter, blog, forum, Facebook groups, and other social media platforms. Pre-order status lookup page was released in October for pre-order customers. It shows information about your pre-order status, shipping date, shipping method and tracking number. The page link was sent to all pre-order users through our newsletter. We also increased our email sending frequencies last year from monthly to semi-monthly. So be sure to sign up for our newsletter or join our Facebook groups for the latest news.

New warehouse and reliable suppliers

Last year, we moved our production to a new warehouse that is 5 times as big as before. We have 3.3 times as many personnel on site. The production capacity is 4 times larger. This helps us accommodate the much higher demand. We are also planning on making our machines, addons and accessories available on Amazon to users in North America, Europe, and Japan in March.

Not only that, we improved our quality assurance for incoming supply once again, and we sent our staff members to oversee our suppliers to ensure their SOPs and production procedures follow our guides and meet our set standards. As a result, the average passing rate for material has increased. On our end, we added 36 more inspection tools for our production line and increased our inspection range as well as precision.

All these improvements translate to a higher machine quality for our users. In 2019 we were praised for high quality products, and we made further improvements based on feedback we received.

Our plans for 2021

For 2021, we’ve got some exciting activities and programs for you. Snapmaker Academy would be one of our regular beginner/intermediate series for 3D printing, laser engraving, and CNC carving. We are going to pump out new content and ideas every video to assist you with your making journey. If you are a beginner and just started your making journey, regular video tutorials and guides will be released as well so our content will be suitable for all ranges of audience.

Next up, we are hosting the Snapmaking Contest periodically. It’s going to have a different theme every time and contestants will have a chance to win special prizes. The fifth Snapmaking Contest is over and the projects were really impressive.

In 2021, we will release more addons for the Snapmaker 2.0. This was and has been the goal of Snapmaker 2.0, which is to become a modular making system. The Snapmaker 2.0 has received a tremendous amount of positive feedback and it has served as a central hub for creation for many of our users. We are planning on developing and/or releasing the Snapmaker 2.0 Rotary Module (already available for pre-order), air purifier, high power laser module, and dual-extruder module. We can’t wait to show you guys more about these modules in the second and third quarters of 2021, so stay tuned!

Year 2020 was tough. It was a struggle for all of us and we are glad that we have pulled through. Not only that, we’ve also made tremendous progress on the areas we’ve touched on in this recap and we are excited for the new challenges ahead. Thank you for your support in 2020 and as always, let’s make something wonderful in 2021!

Stay safe and have a prosperous year,

Team Snapmaker

The post Snapmaker’s 2020 recap and plans for 2021 appeared first on | Blog.

Road to 3-in-1 powerhouse

Back in 2017, we released our very first 3D printing software, the Snap3D. Our ambition was to develop a 3D software not only for our users but also for all makers. As the software’s name implied, we focused mainly on the 3D printing functionality in the software. It was able to do simple 3D printing tasks such as slicing models and exporting G-code files. The software itself was built upon the Cura slicing and Unity engines, and had basic layout and style that helped shape our current software. It was our first step to build a maker tool from a piece of software. It achieved what we wanted at the time; with 2 modes and in 3 steps, you were able to print with Snap3D.

We didn’t stop there; we wanted our software to be completely compatible with the Snapmaker Original. We wanted to give our users a smooth user experience where they can use our software for all their making tasks. This idea became the gist of our next project, the Snapmakerjs. The first generation of Snapmakerjs was released in 2018. It did what it was intended to, 3D printing, laser engraving, and CNC carving. Our goal for the new piece of software was to provide our users with one working station so that they didn’t have to mess around between different programs to utilize all the features on the Snapmaker Original. The Snapmakerjs added functionalities of laser engraving and CNC carving. Few slicing software out there were doing the same at the time. We even added Faster Grayscale Engraving, Camera Aid Background, CNC Relief Carving, Multiple-Model Laser Engraving & Cutting, and Multiple-Model 3D Printing features to the software.

Now, as we moved into the new era of the Snapmaker 2.0, we decided to rebrand the Snapmakerjs as the Snapmaker Luban. It carried all of the features offered in the Snapmakerjs but is now both free and open source. After 26 iterations of the Snapmakerjs, the Snapmaker Luban is more robust and feature packed than ever. The Snapmaker Luban has added features such as Multi-Model Printing, Camera Capture, Wi-Fi Transfer, 3D rendering optimization, multiple engraving modes, custom profiles, and a laser engraving project saving feature (upcoming). The software is most powerful when used with Snapmaker products to uncover its full potential.

Luban.xyz

To take things even further, we wanted to make the Snapmaker Luban a standalone project and introduce it to the maker world. That is the reason why we set up a dedicated website page just for the Snapmaker Luban. If we wanted to provide our users with one working station with the Snapmakerjs, we want the Snapmaker Luban to be of assistance for all makers around the world. Luban.xyz fully showcases the characteristics of the software, highlighting its focus such as ease of use, workflow integration, and customizability. Another thing about Luban.xyz is that it supports 9 languages and multiple platforms, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. You can easily download the version you want on Luban.xyz with its smart web design.

What’s more important about Luban.xyz is its role. It serves as a central hub for the software and links to the official Snapmaker forum and Snapmaker Facebook groups. Makers can go on Luban.xyz and find all the resources about the software with ease.

Snapmaker Luban GitHub Page

We’ve always wanted to give back to the maker community, and that led us to believe an open source project was necessary. The Snapmaker Luban, a custom 3-in-1 3D printing software that is fully compatible with the Snapmaker Original and Snapmaker 2.0, has always been free and became open source in March, 2020. We hope that by open sourcing the software, more makers can gain access to the Snapmaker Luban, and the Snapmaker Luban can become everyone’s pick for their making tool in the future.

With that said, all users are welcome to post any issues and/or bugs found in the software. We believe that great things happen when there is a gathering of great minds. You can file an issue on “GitHub Issues” to submit a bug or feature request. And please make sure you have read our guidelines before contributing code on the Snapmaker Luban GitHub page. Thank you!

Much love,
Team Snapmaker

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