Exactly this. Do we KNOW either of those dates, have they been even spitballed by the company, subject to future change? If so, I’ve missed it.
I did a quick data check of the AnchorMate M5 and its companion the V6. I am impressed, but disappointed.
Impressed by the speed, print quality and initial price. Impressed with some of its advanced features such as an AI surveillance camera mounted on the Z axis, auto bed levelling with 49 test points, quiet operation (they say) Impressed at the (not yet available till Feb/Mar 23) V6 spool holder in that it can automatically print up to 6 different colors or filament types.with runout detection and filament switching. Impressed by its ease of initial assembly.
NOT impressed by its print volume, a bit less than an A250. Shoulda been at least equal to the A350, or at least have a similar size option. Not impressed by its singular function, 3D print only. No laser, no CNC. Maybe later but they don’t say.
For my project I NEED the A350 volume, the CNC and to a lesser extent the Laser for etching mainly. Even the Artisan won’t cut it with the price, inferior enclosure and hard to use controller.
Appreciate everyone’s feedback here. Regardless of your specific opinion, it seems like the underlying sentiment is slight to moderate dissatisfaction with the way Snapmaker has handled and communicated the Artisan launch. I hope they listen to this feedback and reach out to avid supporters (whether money spent with the company or contributions to the form) to get specific feedback and aggregate themes for improvement before considering another product launch or marketing campaign. Fingers-crossed they provide future communications around SM 2.0 support, hardware and enhancements. For now, I will stock-up on replacement parts for my A350 just in case.
@jgb I have followed some of your other threads on the forum and want to probe a little further on your Ankermake M5 feedback – My Kickstarter Snapmaker 2.0 A350 was my first 3D Printer, CNC Machine and laser (whether 3-in-1 or individual). I supported the Ankermake M5 and M6. My thought process in backing the Ankermake was that I have a 3-in-1 printer (Snapmaker 2.0) which is decent at 3D printing, but a more useful CNC and laser machine. I have to pause or shelve the CNC or laser modules when I create my average to decent 3D prints. By backing the Ankermake, I expect to get another machine with higher quality/speed 3D printing and similar, albeit not the same, print volume – Do you have other tools, machines or technologies which you’ve deployed in your workshop (other than Snapmaker)? If so, do you have recommendations on machines which have a similar experience/satisfaction/broad usability as the Snapmaker 2.0 (whether 3D printing, laser, or CNC)? As an example, I know many folks have Creality or Prusa 3D printers, but I believe those makers/makes require more knowledge, experience and time to fine-tune the 3D printing (whether through add-ons or after market enhancements). My impression could be wrong, but would be interested to hear what other machines you use?
I have a few different printers in addition to my A350. A heavily modified Ender 5 Plus, and 4 different Elegoo resin printers. The Elegoo printers are pretty much plug-n-play, but I have added Wham Bam flex plates to all of them, and they are very easy for anyone to use. The Ender 5 Plus is easy to use, IF you know how to use it, which is where most people run into issues with lower cost printers. Experimentation is absolutely required with these printers.
Some FDM (FFF) printers are easier to use than others. Prusa has done a great job in this area, and has support that can hand hold you while getting started. You will pay more for a printer that is easier to use, so it comes down to how much you really want to learn, and how much you can afford. Different printers have different communities as well, where some are extremely helpful, and others aren’t
FDM printers in the $2,500+ range begin to get into high consumer, low commercial market, which are designed to be easier to work with. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they print better, just that they are easier to work with. In the $4k+ range, support is more expensive, and those printers are designed to be run under a support contract. You can maintain them yourself, but you would need to learn the printers and the processes inside out, in order to do so.
You can also build some very good printers like Vorons and RatRigs. If you really want to take a deep dive into 3D printing, purchasing a kit for one these from a reputable vendor, or purchasing one of the kits that Prusa has available, would help you learn most of what you need to know. However, if you are not good at building kits, this is not something that I would recommend for you.
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If it comes to workspace size and ease of use, if you are “only” aiming for 3D print (and perhaps laser), and if you are willing to pay in the 2-3 k$ regime, I can recommend to look at the Prusa XL - IMHO this is currently the most advanced machine (well, it yet does not exist, but you can trust Prusa to deliver), with many clever ideas which have the potential to make it a “just works” machine, without much need to dial in the machine, experiment etc. It also is Core XY, which for the large build volume is the undeniably better choice as compared to the portal concept of most other printers, incl. Snapmaker. With Snapmaker, Core XY would not have worked, since Core XY does not have the necessary robustness and rigidity for milling workloads - at least that’s what I understand, not being a Pro.
Another interesting potentially “just works” device might be the Bambulab X1 (here’s the pre-release review by CNC kitchen) - also a very interesting machine! As opposed to Prusa, to my knowledge Bambulab is mainly lacking the impeckable history of delivering top notch printers that Prusa has.
No, and I doubt we’ll get them. They haven’t made any statements about the Original either. They pretty much stopped talking about the Original the day the V2 was announced. They even went so far as to edit forum posts about the Original to be only about the V2.
The amount they’re continuing to talk about and promise future parts for the V2 is somewhat encouraging. I’m also encouraged by the community having reverse engineered the V2 firmware update process. I fully expect the V2 community to be ghosted at some point though, mostly due to my own experience. I still love my Original, I’m just disappointed.
That is not true. They have talked about the Original from time to time, and they do still manufacture it, they just don’t talk about it all that much. They even have sales for the original.
I can understand that you are not happy with Snapmaker, and the manner in which they deal with the public, and their customers, but making inaccurate statements is not the way to go. Just move on like the many of us have. We pop in here and there if there is something that we can help with, or clarify, but that’s about it.
The Artisan is clearly a low level commercial entry for a niche market that doesn’t have many offerings. It is absolutely not a replacement for the A350, AT350, or F350. It is a completely new product for a higher end customer. I rarely use my A350 anymore, as my Ender 5 Plus is a better option in almost all cases, but it does ALWAYS work. I never need to worry that if my Ender 5 Plus is down, that I won’t be able to print anything.
dmacnulty
Sorry for the late reply. Been busy. I am more busy in retirement then when I was working.
At this point I do not yet have any 3D Printer, CNC or Laser. Nor have I actually used one. BUT I do plan to get one, soon, most probably an A350. A few unrelated events need to happen before that. $$$ is the least of them.
I have been doing 3D CAD for over 15 years as a hobby, designing mainly aerospace stuff from ideas I had working in project management in the aerospace industry. Several years back I was invited to tour a commercial contract 3D Print company and was intrigued. It meant I could make models of some of the stuff I was designing, but not at the $$$$ those printers cost then, or even now.
One of my long term design projects (now over 7 years) is turning into a patent-able machine and last year I decided to get a desktop 3D printer to create a proof of concept functional model. After sourcing commercially available components on Amazon, mainly bearings and tubing, tiny electric motors, etc, it was becoming clear what dimensions my model was going to be. Some large parts had to be made in one piece to very tight dimensions. And there are custom gears, 12 of them.
I spent several months reviewing 3D printers, Youtube videos on makes and “how-to’s” (Makers Muse is one of the best), I settled on an SM A350, based mainly on the near cubic foot of working volume. My biggest part has 1/4 inch clearance on X and Y axis. CNC was a definite feature and the LASER a good plus. Price is a bit high (this is Canada) but reasonable.
CNC will be used to shape and drill thin plywood rather than 3D print large flat objects in PLA. LASER will be used to etch those plywood parts with part numbers as many are very similar but differ in detail. There are about 30 plywood parts, about 50 3D printed parts and about 60 procured parts in the model. (And NO, I can’t tell you what it is, yet, sorry)
Things here at home started getting in the way of actually buying one. My main obstacle is clearing space for it in my basement clutter (NOT a trivial task). Personal “inertia” (wife calls it lazy) is also a problem.
But since I have not yet bought an A350, I am still reviewing other machines, hence my “interest” and comments on both the Artisan and the Anchormate M5 and V6. Neither suit my basic need.
I have no desire to line my walls with multiple printers, CNC or LASERS as after my model is built all I will produce will be “trinkets” and the A350 more than meets that “need”. But time will tell.
jgb
Hey @jgb,
You are sort of taking a tract similar to how I got started, and you are one of the few who actually does their due diligence, before diving into the deep end. That being said, there might be some better options for you in the short term, and the long term. While a 3-in-1 is nice on paper, in use, it is not as appealing if it does not have a quick change feature like the Artisan will have. Mixing a 3D Printer and a CNC Laser in a single product makes sense, but adding CNC Milling comes at a cost/trade-off.
With that being said, and reading your post above, I have a feeling that you might enjoy the experience of building a 3D Printer from a kit, one that is also sold fully assembled off the shelf. For this, you might want to look at the Prusa MK3S+ line of printers. Printed Solid is now owned by Prusa, is located in the US, and provides the same support that the Czech main office does. This will significantly reduce shipping costs.
There is also the Bambu Lab’s X1 Carbon, which was a Kickstarter campaign, and has just started delivering units to it’s backers. The reviews has been really good, and there are options that you may be interested in. Longer term, there is the Prusa XL, which has specs that will blow everything that you are currently looking at out of the water, but they have run into supply chain issues in trying to ship the pre-orders to customers.
There are quite a few different stand-alone CNC Mill options, and I would recommend that you stay away from the 3018’s and lower models. The newer and larger models now support 18,000 RPMs as a base, which is a huge improvement over 12,000 RPMs, which is usually considered the bare minimum for any CNC Mill.
I’ve been trying to stay out of the AnchorMake discussions, as I personally believe that they are skating on thin ice with their claims. While the majority of their claims are accurate, that doesn’t mean that the printer will actually operate at the speeds as they are defined. They are boasting Voron level specifications, but the hardware is not even close to the level of tolerances that Voron has. Until these are in the hands of many customers, this is a buyer-beware situation.
Best of luck on your endeavors, and I hope you have an AWESOME, ENJOYABLE, experience!
I can just update my 350 with hardware to make it an Artisian right? It seems like its the same thing just with fancier touch screen head.
Im planning to jail break the SM 350 anyway so it can use a 20watt laser.
“necessity is the mother of invention” just start moding your rig. From what ive seen people say Luban sucks and lightburn works better for the laser so dont get madder get smarter.
-C
The Artisan is a completely new line from Snapmaker. None of its parts are compatible with any other line.
I would not recommend relying on Snapmaker for these requirements. Looks acceptable on paper, but less so in practice. You might get lucky and get a decently accurate machine, and you might not.
If all you want is a single prototype, it’ll be less expensive to rent time on a higher-quality machine or using a job shop for parts. If there’s a makerspace nearby, that’ll be cheaper still.
eh9
Yeah, more than a bit concerned with that.
The only job shop I know of reasonably near me would end up costing way more than an A350 and 10 rolls of PLA. They will not simply accept my .STL file but insist I use a far higher end CAD (like SolidWorks) than I have (Sketchup), which means a few hundred hours of doing the design all over again.
I would prefer SW but it is unaffordable.
There is also the need for CNC routering and Laser etching.
So I will probably be better off with trial and (mostly) error till I get acceptable parts. Fortunately there are only a very few parts where dimensional accuracy is important. The bulk are well within an A350’s capability.
jgb
If you put the time into an A350, you can get much more accurate than just out-of-the-box build quality. There are a lot of posts in the forum about e-steps, tramming the rails, shimming the bed, replacing the bed with boron-silicate glass, etc.
Yes, I am aware of the many possible tweaks I can do. Makers Muse and the SM Forum is very handy for that. Plus a lot of my PLA parts are small and I will experiment with them first before the tough ones.
jgb
damn I feel like I was tricked… I literally bought the snap maker 350 a few months back… damn that sucks…