After months of tinkering, tweaking, changing settings, changing filaments, changing components, calibrations of all varieties, and numerous other headaches I have come to the conclusion that I hate snapmaker. The product looks very robust and offers a cool premise but it’s positives stop there.
I will get the machine humming along nicely and then it will utterly fail to perform for no discernable reason. Even when working well, the print quality and speed is not worth writing home about when compared to machines that cost over a thousand dollars less.
The laser is underpowered unless you’re willing to continue to hand SM money for step change upgrades that should have been standard. (I do not have the highest powered laser they recently came out with, but will not be purchasing additional SM equipment at this point. This might make a difference but I won’t spend any more money on this machine.)
The can bus and cable management is infuriating, and the luban software has only recently been updated to be more useful than basic free slicers widely available and used but it still randomly disconnects from the machine or crashes. The machine itself randomly doesn’t respond as well.
In general I am extremely disappointed in this product and if I was eligible to refund it I would. Simply put, the value is not there for this product from my perspective and I regret ever spending the money on it.
If someone wants a SM 2.0 with the dual extrusion head 10W laser head and stock CNC head lmk. I hate this machine with a fiery passion and want it off my desk.
If you want to, the community may help you with your problems. Describe here and get suggestions. This would lead to more headaches but in the end it should work pretty well.
Otherwise, whats your location and how much is it?
I don’t want help with this one anymore. As I said, it does work sometimes. I’m tired of how temperamental this machine is to print mid quality prints slowly and the appearance of the company to ask for another 500-700 dollars for a new part or tool. Central KY. Come get it, I’ll not deal with the hassle of disassembling it again or trying to ship this heavy turd. Needs a new print bed sheet. A350T 1000 for the whole set. I hate this machine.
Side note, I looked online for some prices to try not to be a jerk on a used machine and this thing has dropped in price, as it should because it was not worth it’s original asking price, but comically it shows up as a frequently returned item on Amazon. Wonder why…
Really sad to to hear those issues. It is just so surprising as it is so in contrast to what my experience is. With a SN Original, and a A350, these are the reliably machines in my fleet of 6 machines. They have been put through a LOT of use as we run a custom gifts company. I have spent endless hours doing fixes and maintenance on my other machines, especially the Enders. Which I don’t mind - they are cheap as chips, and I enjoy being hands on.
Where-as the Snapmakers are what I constantly refer to as bulletproof. If I have something critical to get out the next day, it goes straight to a Snapmaker.
I have exactly the opposite experience from you. I have an ender s1 that I never touch because it never needs touching. It just goes. Any issues I have with it are always due to filament problems, typically moisture. I agree it’s a much more cheaply made machine and I would expect it to perform much worse than the SM but it doesn’t. I even bought a spare print head for the ender in the event it went down so I could have a quick fix and because they were cheap but I’ve never needed it. It seems far less sensitive to filament quality and brand variability than the SM, is quieter, and seems to consistently print faster.
Words simply cannot describe how angry this development has made me, because I could have bought multiple S1s of I had known this was going to be the case, but I made the assumption of the sturdier design and robust engineering of the SM would be a major difference. Sorely sorely disappointed.
It really isn’t helpful that things like a quick attach mount weren’t standard either. Just in general I am left feeling like the game + dlc meme embodies the SM experience perfectly. The machine is great… if you spend an inordinate amount of money upgrading it and adding on things that should have been standard offerings for the price of the unit.
People can disagree with my opinion on that and that’s fine, but my experience with this machine is what influences that opinion, and it isn’t going to change after screwing with this pile for almost a year.
I think what we see here is an example of the Snapmaker’s quality being all over the place. QC is not one of Snapmaker’s strengths, and if people receive a “bad” machine this is the outcome. By now, I’ve seen all varieties between “I hate the machine” and “I love the machine”, as in this thread. If I had one recommendation for Snapmaker as a company, it was: Invest in Quality Control, both in Hardware as well as in Software. The recent instance of Luban is a good example: Soooo many people frustrated as it once again introduces new bugs that IMHO should have been obvious to a thorough QC. And really not for the first time.
Where do I fit in? In the middle I have a somewhat mediocre Kickstarter Snapmaker, and I’d say for the Kickstarter price it’s OK, did not expect much more, but I never would have paid the list price. As a hobbyist, I can live with frustrations and I love to tinker (and the machine gives me a lot of fun btw!), but if I’d run a small business on this, the machine would have been gone quite a while ago, I’m sure.
While I really understand your situation and understand that your decision to part from the machine is not a hasty one but you really tried, I’d not agree with the cited part of your statement. The Snapmaker 2.0 came out at a different time as a different machine, and evolved from there, so things you’d really would have liked to have from start on, came only later and - like the quick swap kit - are in a sense even compromises again, since they cost build volume. The Artisan is the machine that includes all these learnings, and if you want the more mature design, you should go there (if you are willing to pay the premium). Engineering ressources are limited, and the Kickstarter SM2 delivers as promised, not more, not less.
To be more technical about this, I have had all of the printing issues. Backlash, extruder calibration issues, z offset shifts at random, dimensional accuracy problems, adhesion problems, layer shifting, etc.
On the laser side I had issues with the image capture, bed crashes at random and for days, calibration problems, and then when I got it to work the 10W unit was not as powerful as it’s competition on the market which is why they created a larger module I’m sure.
You hit the nail on the head when you said that I believe this is an indication of snapmaker as a whole failing to have any appreciable level of quality control for either their hardware or their software products. That would be fine if it was a cheap junk company but they bill themselves as well engineered and cutting edge tools or something.
If I was somebody in charge of this company, it would be very difficult for me to go through the forum posts and not want to strangle my entire QC team. You have a product that is selling for a premium in a highly competitive market and you have people that aren’t turning out reliable software or hardware. One problem by itself is bad enough but to have both is unforgivable especially at this price point.
I keep bringing up price because that is one of the things that sets snapmaker apart from the consumer market. They themselves are setting their prices at a premium but are not delivering a premium quality product. I bought this thing when it was at its retail price and on sale near Christmas of last year. If memory serves properly it was still over $2,000 for all of the equipment that I purchased. closer to 3000 I believe but I don’t want to swear to that because I don’t have receipts and things in front of me obviously.
To come back to this forum again and again and see people complaining about the same problems again and again that still have not been fixed is just asinine. It’s absolutely fine and I would have no problem paying a high price for a high quality product. There is an absolute expectation of performance once you start pricing things this way though. The second that you don’t meet that performance, you can’t expect people to respect your brand anymore. This is where I am with snapmaker. If I had bought this machine for six or $700 I would not be complaining at all even with the problems I’ve had.
They simply did not deliver on their quality. From what I can see, they continue not to deliver on that quality either. At least not with any consistency.
“If you’re willing to pay the premium” should be tattooed on the CEO of snapmakers forehead.
You touched on the biggest complaint that I have. Everything with snapmaker is overpriced because they do not have proper quality control on their products. You cannot charge the premiums they try to charge for their products and not deliver things that consistently perform.
The simple fact is I cannot trust that if I were to purchase an artisan machine from them that it would consistently function. Not with the experience I have. Not with what I see on the forums or on the rest of the internet. Again, if they weren’t charging a limb for their product I could understand quality control issues but part of the reason why I would be willing and was willing to pay for a product like this is that I expect it to work. Not just work but work well without constant fiddling.
Under no circumstance should I be able to set that machine next to a machine that costs less than half of what it cost and have less maintenance problems with the cheaper unit. I get that I’m not the only person who has this experience and I get that my experience is not shared by everyone. All I’m really saying is I will not purchase another snapmaker device of any variety because they charge too much for what they produce and they do not have proper quality control on their hardware or their software.
No and yes. It sets it apart, certainly, but for me the unique thing is the 3-in-1. Even at Kickstarter price I was reluctant to invest the money, but there are not many alternatives in the 3-in-1 market - I’m basically only aware of ZMorph - all others vanished from the market quickly. If the 3-in-1 is not what you’re looking for, then I’d say: Stay away from Snapmaker. For 3D print I’d steer people in the direction of Prusa, Voron or Bambulab, for Laser depending if you want to cut or engrave to something like Laser Pecker, XTool or a CO2 laser cutter, and for milling I’d be a bit lost, but perhaps Stepcraft.
Otherwise I 100% agree with what you say! Too expensive for what you get.
As I said, it is one of the things and I agree with you. I actually purchased it primarily for the 3-1 function but have been woefully disappointed with two of those functions to the point I didn’t bother with the third. This shouldn’t happen and negates the positive of making it a 3-1 to begin with.
I wholeheartedly believe that a big part of the reason you don’t see multiple 3-in-1 machines is that even though they should be doable in theory, it’s a very difficult reality to pull off in practice. I also feel like they’re just isn’t a market for three in one machines. Effectively if I want a good version of any one of the three machines I need to not buy the one that I have purchased from snapmaker.
Those things add up to make that beefy price tag make even less sense. If I had bought this machine at $1,000 I probably wouldn’t be upset for that exact reason. I feel like they just thought they had the market cornered with this unique offering and could charge whatever they wanted. Clearly they could for a time as well because people bought the machine but there are many that are very unhappy with it.
To be completely Fair though I think a lot of the reason why people are complaining rather than just getting rid of the machine and move on is that they have spent so much money on these machines. It is the sunk cost fallacy. It’s very difficult to walk away from a machine you’ve spent thousands of dollars on versus another one that you may have only spent hundreds on. I could be wrong obviously but that would be my guess.
Count me as one who has never had an issue with a Snapmaker. I made the BIG mistake of buying into the M3D ecosystem and basically have three doorstops as a result. My SM Original was my second printer (after an M3D Micro+) and it outlasted two of the M3D machines that came after it. For small prints, it was my go-to because the prints were clean. I’m thrilled with my Artisan: it’s the first 3-in-1 machine on which I’ve actually used all three functions for practical purposes.
I’m semi-close and wouldn’t mind another (one to maybe mod or use as parts to build something completely different), I just don’t currently have the cash for it.
I have a somewhat mediocre Kickstarter Snapmaker, and I’d say for the Kickstarter price it’s OK, did not expect much more, but I never would have paid the list price. As a hobbyist, I can live with frustrations and I love to tinker (and the machine gives me a lot of fun btw!), but if I’d run a small business on this, the machine would have been gone quite a while ago, I’m sure.