With 2022 now over and 2023 has just begun, we are steadily marching forward to making some amazing machines for you folk. This new year is going to be an amazing one.

 

Factory Upgrade

As of December 23rd, our factory got a massive quality of life improvement. While our unit may be on the smaller side because of our start up status, it was definitely enough to get the job done – yes it might have been tight with balancing manufacturing space and stock storage, but it was 100% useable.

That is now no longer the case for we have E X P A N D E D!

Having this extra floor means we can push all the stock storage away from the manufacturing processes, and now that the floor has been fitted, I can whole heartedly say, we have PLENTY of space to support the KS and even grow.

Strangely enough, I thought adding a floor would make the building feel smaller as the ceiling has ‘come down’, but in reality, it has actually made the whole area feel wider… just an interesting observation.

New Speed Benchy Times

While the factory is getting set up, there are still chunks of time that we can use to keep working on incrementally improving the machines. In this case with some small revisions to the software and input shaping methods, we are now very proud to announce that we have beaten the 20 minute mark for a speed benchy.

This is no hand crafted G-code to optimise every aspect, this is just the raw performance of the printer as we dial in perfect settings to fully utilise the hardware inside the machine.

Now you may be thinking that a time reduction from 26 minutes to 18 minutes may not be very impressive – after all, its only saved 8 minutes; that’s how long I take to go get a drink and fetch a snack.   But in reality, saving 30% in a benchy directly helps speed up the hardest type of print moves, the ones with lots of detail over small areas with drastic changes in direction.

Backerkit

In the next few weeks, we will be sending out backer kit emails to collect shipping addresses, and allow you to modify/add any extra printers or addons that the KS platform doesn’t fully support – A few people contacted us regarding purchasing multiple machines, we made the incorrect assumption that you could back a KS multiple times to receive multiple rewards, and for that we apologise.  But worry not, once things start getting handled by Backerkit process, you can modify the quantity of printers and addons at will.

Stock and Inventory Progress

We have now purchased almost all of the components needed to start manufacture, but my goodness, did we choose an awful time for the Kickstarter. Having to make purchases over the Christmas and new year period is awful. The response time of companies drops drastically and then we have to battle with the overloaded postal service and Luna New Year as well.  On the plus side we are still on track for the outlines delivery times of March through the colossal effort of Therese keeping everything on track.

We have also now sent machines out to our packaging company where we should be seeing the first signs of what our boxes will look like.  Our aim is to have them in 3 parts – a base, middle sleeve, and top lid. The concept behind that is to allow you to take the box away from the contents without forcing you to lift a heavy and awkwardly sized machine out of a pretty big box.   Don’t expect a pretty box with lots of plastic artwork impregnated on to the sides, as unfortunately adding fancy artwork generally makes the cardboard less recyclable, plus the money savings on box printing can be reinvested into heavier duty packaging.

Upgrades People, Upgrades!

Some of you have probably seen our tweets regarding “project longshot“.  This is our catch-all project name for testing out more advanced manufacturing processes, materials, or components.  The results of these tests directly influence how we improve the machines, as well as determining what changes we can make to give you a better experience, improve the manufacturing pipeline, improve reliability/ease of use, health and safety processes and so forth.

So, why mentioning this now?  The answer is simple. There are upgrades that have passed our internal threshold of viability so expect some changes to the machine that will only improve the performance that you have currently seen.

For both the C1 and XL machines, we have been able to reduce the moving mass quite considerably by upgrading the rail from a single 15mm linear rail to a 9mm rail and a 15mm hollow aluminium strengthening beam.  For the C1, the reduction in mass is almost an entire kilo, and the XL is almost 1.5kg of removed mass.  This means we can push the machine harder and faster without loss in quality.

The extruder brackets have also been modified to include a cutout from the side giving much easier access to the wiring loom. While this change is probably not going to be noticed by anyone, if you ever have to work on the wiring loom, you can thank us then.  This new design means you don’t need to remove the loom from the logic board in order to service the extruder – now all you need to do is slide the loom to the side using the new cutout.

The XL is also getting quite a large change but one that we deemed as necessary after months of testing. The XL bed heater is being upgraded to 220V 800W – almost a doubling in heat output.  While the previous bed was decent, at its large size and 24V 420W of heating, the time it took in order to get up to the increased temperatures needed for PC and ABS/ASA were glacially slow compared to the speed our machine normally runs at and for people in colder climates there was a high risk that the thermal protection systems would be falsely activated due to the slow rate of heat increase.   This new heater will mean you can get to the maximum service temp of 120C within a few minutes.     This may mean the XL may be delayed by a few weeks extra as we source the new parts, but the wait will mean a MUCH improved printer.

And for all the American backers, you don’t have to worry, yours will be a 120V bed, and we are working closely with several companies in order to get you the best heater/PSU combo that fits your power budgets.

Over all, we wish you a very happy new year and can’t wait to see what you make once you get your hands on these machines.