Hi folks,
received an email: The price of the Artisan is now fixed:
Also,more details to be seen on the webpage (still, would wish for more…).
Cheers
Hauke
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Yeah…I think after all the money I just spent on the A350, I’m gonna stick with that for a while. I just can’t see spending another $2800 for a slightly larger print area and a more powerful cnc router…not to mention any other add-ons are gonna be, I’m sure, $600+. Beautiful machine, but just can’t see any reason to upgrade right now.
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I’d love to have it. And price is reasonable considering what you get (heck I spent more on my A250). I just don’t have the space or need for something that size. My A250 works just fine, and I’ll keep buying all the add-ons if they continue to make them.
The discounted price is within about $150 of what I get adding the A350T, enclosure, and 10W laser to the cart at the store. So in that sense, not too escalated considering the new features and higher power machining head and dual extruder. Of course existing prices are kind of premium product level too.
Ah well. Still out of my size range, so not tempted to upgrade, but certainly wish them well to remain as a going concern so we still have parts for a time, and software updates.
I will allow that the price isn’t too unreasonable for what you’re getting, but I don’t have a spare $4000 (CAD, assuming that as usual our dollar is worth about $0.75US) after what this year has been like so far. Nor do I have space for a larger unit. I’ll keep my A150 for now.
That’s one of the points I’m missing on the website: Is the price including the enclosure? If not, it is a considerable price jump. Well, we’ll see - the details will be out on August 9th when preorder is open.
The “Xray”-style image of the linear modules shows indeed that X and Y are belt driven - not sure how well this will work with the milling workload…
Why did they make it belt-driven?
I had a hard time with my belt driven 3D printer.
So I like the SM2.0 and bought it and am happy with it.
I don’t buy Artisan so it doesn’t matter to me.
If there is going to be a SM3.0, please don’t make it belt driven.
I suppose only the Snapmaker engineers can answer that 
With my limited knowledge I seem to understand that belts allow you to go faster and are a bit simpler to handle. But also I seem to understand that belts are more prone to backlash and less rigid. So I’d say they are the obvious choice for 3D printing and laser, where you simply can’t have too much speed and rigidity is not too much of an issue. With milling I always had the impression that you need the rigidity of a lead screw or something similar because of the forces involved, and all serious CNC mills I’ve yet seen use screws, so I have the same question as you. But of course engineering always progresses - and who knows? perhaps belts are now on par with screws in terms of rigidity, at least good enough for the Artisan power design of 200W? I guess we’ll see when the first users report.
Not sure that there ever will be - my assumption would be that they consider Artisan to be the 3.0…
Seems there’s an answer on Facebook:
I hope they backport the feature to resume after pushing the stop button to SM2!
I didn’t want to believe you but just zoomed in on the image myself after taking a screencap. I think you’re absolutely right - X and Y rails look like belts, while the 2 Z rails still show the central leadscrew.
That’s a giant step backward IMO. I mean, not all belts are created equally, make it wide enough, toothed enough, and tight enough it’s going to be well controlled. But not stronger than a leadscrew, even with guiderails.
I’m strangely even more dismayed by this than by the thought that we were ‘abandoned’ at the Ax50T level machines…I would like to know if this was an engineering change because they really did decide belts were functionally better for some reason…or just cheaper/easier to produce. (Different definition of ‘better’…)
If I’d venture a guess, I’d say they tried to optimize speed. With the even larger build volume, speed becomes more important. Here they claim it’s Gates belts, so that’s the best you can get as far as I understand.
I still don’t really get this “we are abandoned” hype… SM2 and Artsian are in many ways compatible, and much that will be developed for Artisan will work with SM2 too, I’m pretty sure. Also, Luban and firmware improvements will be “universal”, It’s just a new model in their line, what’s the problem?
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Well, that’s partially why I ‘scare-quoted’ it, being a little bit tongue-in-cheek. But they have stated thus far most of the upgrades don’t cross over. 10W laser we already get, dual extruder we can too. MAYBE they’ll allow a QR retrofit for toolheads, but the prior gen controller probably still requires power off/on vs. hotswap (I’m comfortable with that regardless if only to help me doublecheck I’m not being “that user” plugging in backward.)
But the rails are different size, bed hotswap isn’t moving over, upgraded controller can’t go with 2.0 units, etc. (all in the ‘compatibility’ thread)
It remains to be seen if the 2.0 machines will keep being marketed (and future upgrades offered?) in parallel, or simply continue to be produced as is for a little while in parallel to Artisan, or almost immediately become ‘while supplies last’. We simply don’t know. And I would be shocked if the newest products didn’t gain the bulk of development effort in software, too, with all else becoming mere afterthought (e.g. the 1.6W laser…)
I wouldn’t call the “upgraded controller” a step forward. I personally dislike designs like that. If one item fails, they all fail. I can tuck the PS under my bench top, and the display control is in a convenient location on the enclosure, and I can position the emergency stop button where it’s readily accessible. All-in-one package is not that convenient IMO. And I’m sure it’s much cheaper to produce. Saves a few cables, separate hub, cases, etc.
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Snapmaker disappointed me and allot of us as well with a fake promotion from begin where inform of modules for better cnc,biggest area, for the snapmaker 2 (yes this was the advertised promotion) they didn’t mention to a new coming machine and they find defect and problems during campaign and life of snapmaker 2 so this mean they play with us and our trust and money for years , CNC was the main reasons why i buyed an A350, and for years i asked when come out the powerful router……and they always lyes and i am quite sure soon (if not quit already) they will stop the expanding of our SM2 because they focus (like apple ) only to new model and left us in the dark, so for me this company is a bad experience to not do anymore,i not use for work this toy machine and the current cnc is far from any market low level cnc power ,I not have money to waist again for incompetence of a company to make a product better (can’t find after so long time they aren’t able to do better to old machine because they make engineering mistakes from begin) this is a kind of joke and low professionally competency, better focus in others brand specific (not modular) but stable strong and long lasting support. Bye Snapmaker for me.
Hey if you have the space for 3 separate machines, then do it. I don’t think there’s any secret that an all-in-one design will always be a compromise. Many of us are willing to accept that tradeoff. But I don’t think the SM is that much of a tradeoff. I’m extremely satisfied with my SM, it’s been used everyday for over a year. Sure there’s been an issue or two, but nothing major. The software has taken a bit of a turn for the worse, but the hardware has been flawless. All my friends have 3D printers of other brands, and those basically sit in their desk and collect dust. So I’m a firm believer in the all-in-one SM.
Aside from the 10W laser, and upcoming dual extruded, I don’t expect anything beyond that. Those are just gravy to an already capable machine.
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Sorry but at that price. I will be sitting on my A320T for awhile. mine is not even 6 month old and I also have the rotary tool that i havent even used. I only be interested in a dual estruder for my A320
From what I understand, and I may be wrong, the belts are to ensure synchronous motion between the two stepper driven rails. Sometimes a stepper motor loses a step, and that can be problematic.
But if it is in fact belt driven, then SM cheaped out on having just one stepper motor driving two rails.
The picture illustrates the two major points (and there is more) about Artisan I simply do not like.
The Enclosure design and the Control Panel design.
The enclosure has only one single panel door, vrs. two triple panel doors on the A350 enclosure. That makes it difficult to reach into the back for cleaning or other tasks. It also means any tabletop area in front has to be totally clear to open the door, far less convenient than the folding doors on the A350 enclosure.
The power supply module has two major design deficiencies.
- It is way too big to place inside the enclosure, and even if it could, the placement of the emergency stop button and control panel makes that impractical.
- the control panel seems fixed into the power supply and now does not have the convenience of being on a long coiled wire so I don’t have the ability to see the screen properly when sitting or standing, versus holding it like a phone in my hands. However the increased size is a really good feature.
A350 for me…
While this is right, I do not think that A) this is the reasons for the belts nor B) that there’s only one stepper per axis. The Artisan linear modules each contain a stepper. Loosing steps with two driven rails is however a nasty thing - there are several videos on Facebook of the noises this makes… It hurts! 
It looks like that on the images, but I’ve not yet found any picture that shows the enclosure from any other angle. If it is as we think, then I’d agree: That’s a step back.
The control unit is I guess a matter of taste. I again share your opinion and prefer the handheld touchscreen. The added area is of no significant benefit IMHO, the flexibility of the handheld is more of an asset. Regarding the PSU inside the enclosure, Snapmaker always recommended against it, and I can see why: You do not want milling dust in your PSU, especially anything that’s electrically conductive. Also, with 3D printing the inside will get warm - not optimal for a PSU that requires cooling.