Unlock your full creative potential from 3D printing to laser engraving, cutting and CNC carving. Smarter, larger, and more powerful.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Delivery Schedule Update Regarding COVID-19 and New Enclosure
about 4 years ago
– Fri, Feb 28, 2020 at 12:30:47 AM
Dear backers,
During the Chinese New Year holidays, a virus epidemic known as COVID-19 broke out in Wuhan, China and the whole city of Wuhan was on lockdown. Many of the cities in China are affected by the virus and most businesses came to a complete halt. Most factories did not resume operation until 2/17/20 due to the extended shutdown. Some of the employees at Snapmaker were finally back in office last Thursday; more are planning to resume work this week or next.
Your Rewards Will Be Delayed for Additional Six Weeks Due to COVID-19
Ever since the breakout, most of the employees at Snapmaker have stayed home for the sake of self-quarantine to help stop spreading the virus. At the same time, we were discussing the impact of the epidemic intensively internally, but it was out of our reach to come to a conclusion at the early stage of the breakout. We did not release any information prematurely because we were not sure of the impact and how much it would affect our production and ultimately the delivery schedule. We have been in close contact with our supply chain partners since the breakout. We knew we could deliver our machines eventually to our customers, but we just did not know when, not until this week.
We rely heavily on factories in other cities outside of Shenzhen in China for the production. Due to the city lockdowns and safety measures issued by the government such as self-quarantine, the production capacity is now at 50% temporarily. Good news is that we are anticipating full production two weeks from now. With the temporarily low worker return rate and production capacity, the shipments will be delayed for another six weeks. This was not what we expected and we sincerely apologize. Please check out the following picture for the updated schedule.
Please keep in mind that any changes made are current, as they don’t account for further potential impact by the virus. We cannot foresee the future and don’t know what direction the epidemic is going to go and how long it will last. The delay and the whole global financial impact are unfortunate, but we know the situation is only temporary. Our whole team is in good health and we are confident that we will meet the anticipation set by our backers. We are a strong team and will continue to work hard to fulfill all the orders and deliver the premium products we have promised to you. Once again we apologize for the delay and hope to seek your understanding.
We Are Currently Investigating the Reported Issues
As we are getting back in office gradually this week, our R&D team is looking into the issues that some of our users reported during the holidays and virus epidemic. For issues that could be resolved through our online support, we have sent out the replacement parts covered under warranty to the users. But there are still a few other issues that require some extensive testing for us to pinpoint the causes to resolve them completely, such as the auto-leveling feature and software bugs. This is the reason why we have not been able to share with you with the solutions. We take these problems very seriously and the quality of our products is always our first priority. We hope to resolve the reported issues and optimize the performance of Snapmaker 2.0 before the next batch.
Everything You Need to Know About the New Enclosure
Are you still deciding whether you should purchase the new enclosure for Snapmaker 2.0? Because the information about the enclosure is limited on the BackerKit Survey, we are going to share with you everything you need to know about the new enclosure including its specifications and features. If you still have questions, please comment down below in the comment section. We will follow up with you shortly.
The enclosure is constructed with aircraft grade aluminum alloy and laser filtering acrylic sheet. It is super easy to assemble as the foldable doors come pre-assembled for you. The enclosure can protect you and your family members from potential hazards caused by the laser engraving/cutting process. When one of the doors is opened, the laser engraving/cutting process will stop automatically; when all the doors are closed, the laser engraving/cutting process will resume. The enclosure uses a folding door mechanism and takes up less space, reducing the risk of breaking the acrylic panels.
Overall Features:
Laser filtering
Noise reduction
Smell/fumes reduction
Dustproof
Creates a safe and stable environment
Avoids warping and/or shrinkage of ABS when printing
Keeps your kids or pets away from potential hazards
LED Strips, Exhaust Fan, and Exhaust Duct are included
Estimated Dimensions & Weight:
A350 (L x W x H): 625mm x 820mm x 602mm; 20kg
A250 (L x W x H): 531mm x 624mm x 507mm; 15kg
A150 (L x W x H): 398mm x 423mm x 407mm; 10kg
Unfortunately, the production of the enclosure has been affected by the epidemic as well. The initial trial run ended a month later than we anticipated. But within this week, we have finally put together and tested our first enclosure samples. We can now do the production planning more accurately. After multiple rounds of discussion and considering the potential production risk, we have made the following chart for delivery schedule.
Preorder the Enclosure, Save Up to $200, and Secure an Earlier Delivery Date
We will send the BackerKit Survey to you six to eight weeks prior to the ETA for delivery for you machine. When you fill out the survey, besides the option to confirm the model of your machine and the shipping address, you can also check for any addons you want on the addon list. For accessories and materials, we will deliver them together with the machine in one package for non-US backers but separately as two packages, one for the machine and the other accessories, for US backers; For the enclosure, we will ship it based on the delivery schedule on the chart above. All you need to do is to work with the carriers to clear the customs. The specific procedures depend on your local customs policies.
As our Kickstarter backers, you will all get a 33% off discount, for up to 200 US dollars, when preordering the enclosure. The delivery schedule is based on the time of which you place the order, so we encourage you to order the enclosure on the survey.
As always, please keep sharing your feedback and suggestions below. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Team Snapmaker
Delivery Schedule Update, New User Manuals and Tutorials , and Early Bird Feedback
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Jan 23, 2020 at 12:45:32 AM
Dear backers,
Happy new year! It’s almost the time of Chinese New Year over here and we are both excited and sad at the same time because we have so much to share with you in this update but we will be leaving for the holidays soon, which means we wouldn’t be able to fulfill as many orders as we’d like. Don’t worry though, we will show you more features and updates on the Snapmaker 2.0 enclosure once we are back in the office and here are some of the latest news about the delivery schedule, new user manuals and video tutorials, and early bird feedback.
We’ve Shipped out About 900 Snapmaker 2.0s, More to Come
As of this writing, approximately 1750 out of the 1800 backers have successfully submitted their BK surveys. We’ve shipped out about 900 units of Snapmaker 2.0s. It is our pleasure to see the early birds to have received our products and have gotten to building. We are also happy to see that most of the feedback is positive (more on that later.) But as the saying goes, nothing is perfect. Some of our early birds have questions regarding our logistics and the delivery, and some are seeking technical support for their newly arrived Snapmaker 2.0. But rest assured, we’ve heard your voices and both our support team and community are actively working together to address your concerns. And we hope to help you resolve your issues as soon as possible.
The Following Batches Will Be Delayed for Four Weeks
We initially adjusted the delivery schedule back in November and pushed back the delivery to six weeks later. With the upcoming holidays, we will have to readjust the delivery schedule for the following batches. We apologize that the delivery has to be pushed back for another four weeks. Here is the latest approximate delivery schedule.
Similar to our experience with our first Kickstarter campaign, it is not an easy task to mass produce quality 3D printers with our high standards, especially when our target is to provide our early backers with over 7k quality 3-in-1 3D printers. Even though our manufacturing and R&D teams have spent day and night trying to beat the deadline, some even stayed months in the factories to provide support on site, there were always some unexpected problems. The production of the Snapmaker 2.0 is much more complicated than that of the original and involves numerous tests and new components such as Wi-Fi receivers, built-in cameras for the laser modules, and auto-leveling sensors . Rigorous testing is carried out to ensure the quality of our product. Suppliers have to comply to our standards and this inevitably increases our production time. On the bright side, we are more effective now at dealing with external factors, which helps us avoid long delays.
The first batch of rewards was shipped from Dec. 31 to Jan. 15. The shipment was about 550 machines including addons and we managed to ship every work day. The second batch of rewards was originally set to be shipped by this Friday, but due to the lack of material in stock from suppliers during the holidays, most of our factories had to halt production. To ensure the quality of the Snapmaker 2.0, we will have to adjust the delivery schedule again from shipping 1200 down to about 350 machines. Considering the delivery time to customers in the U.S is about 15 days as opposed to on average 7 days to customers in other areas, and the amount of material in stock, the majority of the machines shipped are A350 and will be delivered to the U.S; a small amount of the machines shipped will be delivered to other regions. Please note that the Chinese customs will be affected by the holidays as well for about a week. The processes over at the customs will be delayed and slowed down during this period as compared to during regular work days. The 300 machines shipped this week will most likely stay at the customs until the holidays are over. This might cause some confusion for our users, as the tracking number will show that the shipment is stuck at some place and won’t be updated for some time.
Freshly Baked Snapmaker 2.0 User Manuals and Video Tutorials
We are building the foundation of user support for our devices along with the release of Snapmaker 2.0. Our new Snapmaker 2.0 Quick Start Guides has inherited the merits of that of the Snapmaker Original; The new guides use a combination of clear and concise instructions and more intuitive diagrams and pictures. They also filled the gap of some basic software knowledge and have a unique graphic design. It is our goal to improve our user guides’ usability and readability. We hope that when our users read the new Snapmaker 2.0 Quick Start Guides, they will get the feeling as if they were reading elegant magazines.
Besides the physical copies of our new Quick Start Guides, we will also update and refine the online version of User Manual to provide a more well-rounded user experience. They will be updated along with the touch screen and software updates to support our users to learn all the new features. We aim to integrate our guides with more advanced software knowledge down the road.
We recently uploaded a couple of video tutorials on YouTube with voiceover to help you get started with your new device. They are each short but informative and we are glad to see viewers leaving appreciative comments on our videos and we aim to provide more such videos to our audience and community. Feel free to comment on our videos down below in the comment section and let us know what you think. 😊
Early Bird Feedback
Now let’s check out some of the early bird feedback we gathered from our community and social media platforms. We are thrilled that so many users like what they’ve received and say that the Snapmaker 2.0 has exceeded their expectations. It is truly our pleasure to see the reaction from our users and we wanted to share with you some of the posts on our Facebook page
Delivery FAQ
How Can I Change My Shipping Address?
You can change your shipping address at any time prior to your BackerKit surveys being locked. Please note that the survey will be sent out about one month before the delivery date of your rewards and will be locked in about two weeks after. If you want to change your shipping address, you can visit https://snapmaker-2.backerkit.com and enter the email you used when you originally made your Kickstarter pledge. When you log into your account on BackerKit, you will find the access to edit your shipping info. After entering your new address, please make sure to navigate to the end of your survey and submit it successfully. If you have any questions, please email us at [email protected].
When Will I Receive My Rewards?
We arrange the shipment by different pledge levels. You can check the estimated delivery times here (there will be a slight delay in the updates on the google doc during the holidays, but timely updates will resume afterwards.)
We usually send you a survey about a month before the delivery time of your order. After you complete the survey, we will lock your order to arrange the shipment. If your order status is survey not sent, please kindly wait for the survey, If your order status is ready to ship, it means that we are processing the shipment now. Please wait patiently. Thank you!
Why Haven’t I Received My Order Yet, While Others Have Received Theirs?
Maybe you have heard that some backers whose backer numbers that are larger than yours have received their orders, but you haven’t. This is because the batches of shipment are arranged based on the pledge levels. Within each batch, there are several waves of shipments based on the different shipping methods for different countries. That's why not all the rewards are shipped at the same time and also why some backers receive their rewards earlier than others. We appreciate your patience and understanding. We are arranging the shipment now and you will receive your order in the estimated delivery period we provided.
To recap, 2019 was an outstanding year. Our team has beat the goal we set out to do at the beginning of the year. We had an amazing Kickstarter campaign and received so much support from you guys. We set out to make something that can be of use to you creatives and even people who want to venture into the field of 3D printer, laser engraving, or CNC carving for the first time. It is you who keep us going. All our teams have worked collaboratively with one goal in mind: to make something wonderful. We are looking forward to how 2020 will unfold and can’t wait to show you what we have made in our office so please stay tuned. The entire Snapmaker team wishes you a happy belated new year and let’s get to building!
Sincerely,
Team Snapmaker
Start Shipping Soon & New Touchscreen Features
over 4 years ago
– Fri, Dec 27, 2019 at 01:48:05 AM
Dear backers,
We are excited to announce that we will start shipping next Monday. In addition to the good news on the delivery, we are also going to share the unboxing video of Snapmaker 2.0 and some new touchscreen features in this update.
Delivery Countdown
The production and delivery are on track. In four days, the first batch of Snapmaker 2.0 modular 3D printers will be sent out to early bird backers. For remaining backers, you can check out the estimated delivery month of your rewards here. You will receive email notifications from Kickstarter and BackerKit once we send out the survey to you. Generally, the survey is scheduled to be sent out about one month before your rewards’ delivery.
Important Notices for Filling in Your Survey
After we lock your survey to prepare for the delivery, we will pre-check the survey information to ensure that your rewards will be delivered successfully. Please make sure your provided information meets all the following requirements:
Make sure the information you provide is complete and accurate.
Fill in the survey in English. Users from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan can fill in the survey in Chinese.
Make sure the postal/ZIP code is correct for your city.
Fantastic Unboxing Experience
As the shipping date of the first batch of Snapmaker 2.0 is getting closer, we are excited to share the unboxing experience with you. We also want to know your own experiences with your new Snapmaker, including the unboxing and your first creation. We can’t wait to see some great posts from early backers in the community next month. Merry Christmas everyone!
New Touchscreen Features
Three years ago, we set out to improve the user experience for maker tools like 3D printers, laser cutters, and CNC routers. At the time we released our first product Snapmaker Original, we replaced the conventional Monochromatic LCD screen with a 3.5-inch capacitive color touchscreen. This year, Snapmaker 2.0 will be released with an upgraded 5-inch graphic 16.7M color touchscreen. Our vision for the user interface of our product is: users should be able to perform common tasks with as little effort and distraction as possible, and they should be provided with a setup wizard to get started in the most efficient way. Now let’s check out the amazing features we are adding to the touchscreen.
Setup Wizard for Beginners
When you set up the machine for the first time, the touchscreen will guide you through the initial setup process step by step, such as naming your printer and connecting your printer to a Wi-Fi network. When you use any of the functions (3D printing, Laser, CNC) for the first time, the touchscreen will guide you through the setup process with intuitive illustrations, clear explanations, and interactive feedback. Whenever you are not sure how to get stated with your work, just run the setup wizard from “Settings” on the touchscreen and you will be good to go!
Auto-Focusing Mode
Using the built-in camera, the laser module has an auto-focusing feature. When running in Auto-Focusing mode, the machine will engrave a few lines with slightly different Z Offsets and recognize the optimal engraved line to set the focal length automatically. Once the focal length is set, you simply enter the material thickness on the touchscreen and the laser module will automatically position itself for optimal engraving and cutting quality. With this new feature, you don't need to manually adjust the Z Offset ever again.
Adjust Settings When the Machine Is Printing/Engraving/Cutting/Carving
If you want to adjust settings during the working process to put some special effects on your creations, you can make it happen with the touchscreen directly. For 3D printing, you can change the nozzle temperature, heated bed temperature, Z Offset, and work speed during the printing process. For laser engraving and cutting, you can change the laser power and work speed during the engraving or cutting process. For CNC carving, you can change the spindle speed during the carving process.
Touchscreen Specs
Display: 5-inch TFT, 16.7M Color, IPS
Resolution: 720x1280
Android OS, Quad Core A7 CPU @ 1.1GHz
Survey and Delivery FAQs
I can’t find my survey. What should I do?
We send out the survey based on the estimated delivery month of your Kickstarter rewards. You can check your rewards’ delivery month here.
The survey will be sent to your email address that is associated with your Kickstarter account. To ensure you will receive the survey successfully, please update your email address to the one that you use most frequently. Click here to learn more.
How to know the status of my rewards’ delivery or my tracking number?
You can check the estimated delivery month here. For the shipped rewards, we will send you the tracking numbers via BackerKit emails about two days after your rewards are shipped.
What is TIN or EORI? Why should I provide this number?
We will send an email to collect your TIN (Tax Identification Number) or EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification) number due to the customs requirements in Europe, Taiwan, and South America. We will need the TIN or EORI from backers who come from these regions when we prepare to send out the rewards.
For European customers, you have the option to choose whether or not to provide the TIN or EORI to us before we send out your rewards. There will be no problems in customs clearance for your package. Regardless of your choice, we will deliver the goods to you according to the original plan. Just a friendly reminder, there is a certain amount of risk that the logistics company cannot complete customs clearance without your TIN or EORI, although the risk is minimal. Please pay attention to the shipping status and provide the information if the logistics company requests it.
For customers from South America and Taiwan, please provide your TIN to us when you receive our email. The TIN is mandatory for customs in these regions. We will transfer your Snapmaker with your information to the logistics company once we receive your TIN. Thank you for your understanding!
When will the enclosure be available for preorder?
We have added the enclosure to the BackerKit survey since December 24, 2019. You can preorder this item when you fill out the survey. For early bird backers, we will send an email to you with a dedicated preorder link by the end of January 2020. The discounted price and shipping cost are exclusive to Kickstarter backers. The enclosure is not available for the public to preorder yet.
You can learn more about the common survey problems at BackerKit Help Center:
Thanks as always for your support - please keep sharing your feedback and suggestions below. We’d love to hear your thoughts on how we can keep making this project more inspiring.
Sincerely,
Team Snapmaker
The First Batch Will Be Shipped in One Month
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Nov 30, 2019 at 12:53:29 AM
Dear backers,
We will begin shipping the Snapmaker 2.0 Modular 3-in-1 3D Printers at the end of December and it will be done in batches over the months to come. Now let’s check out the update of delivery schedule and BackerKit survey schedule.
Delivery Schedule Update
Happy Thanksgiving, and Thank You All for your continued support! We finally get to tell you the big news: we will begin shipping rewards in one month. We have been working feverishly all year to make this project the best Tech project ever on Kickstarter. This month, the mass production for Snapmaker 2.0 products started, and the first batch (600 units) is scheduled to be sent out before the New Year holiday.
BackerKit Survey Update
We plan to send out the BackerKit survey to Early Bird backers next Saturday. For remaining backers, we will send out the survey in late December 2019. After you submit the survey, we will lock down the shipping address and contact information for your rewards’ delivery. Generally, we will lock down the shipping information about two weeks before the delivery of your rewards.
At first, we wanted to offer Snapmaker Enclosure as an Addon option to you in the BackerKit survey and to deliver the enclosure together with your Kickstarter rewards. However, the pilot production for the enclosure has been delayed. We prefer to leave enough room for further improvement for the newly designed enclosure. Therefore, we cannot but deliver the enclosure separately from the machine. The estimated delivery time of the enclosure is early April 2020. To be one of the first to receive Snapmaker enclosure, you can preorder the enclosure in the survey. We are pleased to offer a big discount to all backers for their enclosure preorders.
In the survey, we will offer variousAddons including 3D printing filaments, tested materials for laser engraving and CNC carving, and Spare Parts & Accessories Bundle. You can feel free to add these addons to your order. We will ship them together with your Kickstarter rewards. If you want toupgrade your pledge level, you can make it in the survey as well. You will be able to pay the difference and upgrade your pledge level from A150/A250 to A350 when filling out the survey.
The survey will be sent to your email address that is associated with your Kickstarter account. To ensure you will receive the survey successfully, please update your email address to the one that you use most frequently. Click here to learn more.
Dust Resistant Test
Have you ever wondered what makes the Snapmaker 2.0 machines dustproof? Do you know how well the linear modules protect your Snapmaker? To answer these questions, we conducted an ultimate test on the machine during the pilot production. Let’s check it out.
Test Time: Over 50 hours
Carving Material: 150 x 150 x 30 mm³ Medium-Density Fiberboard (MDF)
Tool: 2.5mm flat end mill
Stepdown: 0.1mm
Test Process: Stimulate heavy workload scenario. Test the dustproof performance of the X, Y, Z linear modules. Disassemble the module and evaluate the dust accumulation and distribution on the main parts inside it: groove, lead screw, circuit board on the motor, guide rail, slider, and the interior wall of the module.
Test Result: There’s almost no dust inside the linear module.
The tightness of the steel stripcan greatly affect the dustproof performance of the linear module. We have conducted many dust-resistant tests with different degrees of tightness of the steel strips. And we found the optimal tightness to achieve the best dustproof performance. We have also conducted this test on more materials (POM and Beech Wood) to ensure that steel strip can protect the main parts from dust and dirt in most scenarios.
Your Snapmaker is always getting better. During the pilot production, we have not only conducted various tests to ensure the reliability and durability of the machine, but also optimized the workflow on the touchscreen and software to ensure they are user-friendly. There will be some new features coming with your Snapmaker. We will introduce them in the next update. :)
At Snapmaker, we are excited to do everything we can to make useful features available to you, our early supporters. As always, please keep sharing your feedback and suggestions below. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Team Snapmaker
Delivery Schedule Update and the Packaging Design
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Nov 02, 2019 at 02:05:33 AM
Dear backers,
It has been a wild October at Snapmaker – we have been busy running a lot of tests to validate the solutions of fixing the issues in pilot production, covered from various aging tests, performance tests, to user experience tests. Based on the latest test results, we have updated the delivery schedule of all pledge levels.
Your Rewards Delivery Will Be Delayed by Six Weeks
As explained in our last update, we need more time to fix problems and get everything working as intended rather than rushing to get all the tests completed. Over the past month, we have fixed most of the issues that may lead to further delays, including the problems related to the wireless transmission performance of the Laser Module (which guarantees the performance of Autofocus and Background Capture), the imaging quality of the Laser Module, and the cooling effect of the 3D Printing Module.
Although our engineer team worked overtime on Saturdays since October, we cannot catch up with the original delivery schedule. As I am writing this update, there are still many tests running day and night in our office. One of the most critical tests that will affect the quality of your 3D prints and all the creations you make is how reliable and durable of the linear modules. We have spent a great amount of time on conducting aging tests and reliability tests on multiple test sets for the Linear Modules. Two issues arose with small probabilities in pilot production #2 when we scaled up the testing from 30 units to 90 units for each model. Now we are still carefully working on resolving them.
Here’s the latest project schedule and we are trying our best to ensure both a higher quality product and a shorter delivery time.
How We Improve the Packaging Design for Snapmaker Products
“Beautiful packaging, superb manual, an unpacking experience on par with Apple products.” This was the feedback from the Snapmaker original users. We felt very encouraged by that. When designing the packaging for Snapmaker 2.0 products, we have done further research and discussed frequently to see how we can improve our product packaging even further.
We could simply adopt the similar packaging design as the original model for Snapmaker 2.0 products. We knew that would be very beautiful and reliable. However, we also heard that some of you prefer a more environmentally-friendly design. Meanwhile, we saw the trend of replacing single-use materials with paper-based sustainable packaging. So we started to work on the new design.
First, we conducted a #SnapPoll in our facebook group in late August. 515 users voted. Over 70% users voted for using cardboard boxes since it will be more eco-friendly than plastic foam.
Second, we designed and made a series of packaging samples to test out the best packaging solution. Using corrugated box as our main packaging material, we have performed four iterations in total. We focused on two main objectives. The first one is to ensure the new design has the same or better structural protection performance as the design for Snapmaker Original. The second is to get the best balance between unpacking experience, the versatility of the inner boxes, and the ruggedness of construction.
As you know, Snapmaker 2.0 products are modular. When you see them as part of the modular system, you will find that it’s natural to design a packaging box for each type of module. However, we could not simply do that since we also need to keep unpacking experience in mind. It will be a tedious process to unpack thirty boxes to get started on a new product. Therefore, we designed and tested our solutions for many times to find the optimum balance between controlling the number and type of packaging boxes and allowing these boxes to be commonly used in the whole system. In addition, the packaging needs to provide effective protection to the products.
Note: The Hardened Corrugated Box is twice as strong as the Standard Corrugated Box.
For the protective buffer layer between the box and internal modules boxes, A uses 20mm Foamed Polyethylene while D uses 20mm Honeycomb Paperboard.
Here is one the critical test that we conducted on our packaging. We simulated the potential greatest impact in the transport process on the test groups and then compared and analyzed the protection performance of them. It can test the packaging material’s quality and stacking strength.
Simulated the transportation scenario of suffering the force to burst or puncture on the packaging box.
After all the tests, the overall performance of Test Sample A is the best. Now we are going to improve the design details and start the visual design on the packaging to improve the unpacking experience.
As always, please keep sharing your feedback and suggestions below. Thank you!
