As I print more on the Snapmaker I run into situations where features such as print pausing and power outage print restarts would take it to the next level.
Could Snapmaker please officially say that updates to firmware are either going to happen, or never going to happen. Given that Snapmaker wouldn’t exist to put out a 2.0 product without the purchasers of the 1.0 product, I think it would be a mark of respect to clarify this.
Other approaches can likely be used to do some of this (like pausing through Octoprint for example), but it would be great if Snapmaker’s staff would actively help to develop scripts and settings for these kinds of things rather than completely depend on the community.
Are Snapmaker staff actually makers that actively use Snapmaker printers day-to-day for their own projects? Surely if yes, you run into these limitations too, and either have or want to come up with solutions for them?
Thanks for making these printers, and the support work you currently do. What would be nice to see is some passion for making, and releasing solutions and tweaks for the known limitations and problems with Snapmaker. They’ve been discussed for 2+ years, so it’s not like they aren’t known.
Snapmaker Luban now works for both Snapmaker Original and Snapmaker 2.0.
If you are asking for the pause function, it’s already existed in the software.
If you are asking for new features such as Power-Loss recovery or filament runout detection, due to hardware limitations, they are not easy to achieve by just modifying the firmware.
For SM 1.0, if there’s critical issues we will provide patches for them. Otherwise we’ll put it in a low priority state.
Power-out detection I can understand may be difficult to add, however a simple pause function should be both easier and feasible to implement…it can actually help out a lot with difficult prints.
I’m sure there are other users here like me who struggled with certain prints because they had to be printed in a very specific orientation, but because of the way they are shaped parts of it came loose, causing the print to fail…
(and I don’t mean bed adhesion - they come loose off the raft)
A good way I found round this problem is to wait until the height is about 10mm to 15mm - basically before it gets too high - and then put a couple of dollops of hot glue on the side of the print to let it run down and help stick it to the raft.
Now on the SN2 I can safely pause the printer and do whats necessary - the head even moves out of the way making it very easy and convenient - I can comfortably and accurately apply the glue exactly where I need it.
On the SN1, I have to get my timing down perfect to get the glue gun in and out before the printer gets damaged or I get injured…so for me personally the pause function is more of a safety feature than a convenience…
Also, if you can get the pause feature to work with the enclosure door sensors that would be even better - specifically for the users with little kids that doesn’t always listen…something like this is a major safety improvement that can prevent an unnecessary and possible severe injury to a child who’s only wrongdoing was being curious…
One thing that could be done - without too much effort (and I think with decent reward if it was promoted properly) would be an upgraded 3D print module with improvements that incorporate some of the fixes and improvements that the community has created over the last couple of years to improve the printing consistency and experience.
For example:
Better quality and quieter fans (bigger if necessary)
Bidirectional part cooling
Straighter and improved path/filament guide to make flexible filaments easier to print.
We can do these thing ourselves to create Frankenstein modules (and end up with stripped threads or broken parts in the process), but it would be great to get an official, properly manufactured, product.
