Hi all, apologies about last month’s update getting bumped into this month’s. We were stuck in this weird middle ground of having some super cool topics to talk about, but nothing we are allowed to talk about. But now it’s a new month, and there are cool topics we can talk about!

New manual, with moving images!

Slowly, but surely we have been making our own filming area within the factory,  the intent is to use this to create a full set of video guides to accompany the manual. This should provide extra clarification for some of these steps, but also I personally find videos are much easier to understand than just reading text.

If you want to have a look at what we have made so far, the links are:

https://youtu.be/vha4wjYoJn0            <- Z-probe calibration

https://youtu.be/fVU1h3VtoEs            <- Identifying bad bed probe value

https://youtu.be/FK7xk2CQIEM            <- WobbleX assembly and positioning

https://youtu.be/7aknBpWOV24            <- Wi-Fi – Getting connected

We are always hungry for feedback, so if you do have a watch, or find them helpful, we would love to hear about it.

Version 1.1 updates!

I’m extremely happy to say we have officially updated / upgraded our C1 design (with the help of all your feedback) with enough improvements to bump up the version number.

One of the early things we worked on was improving the filament system, focusing on the reliability as in the early design, the issue was for heavier reels, the inertia could free spin the cassette enough to unravel the spool causing it to get tangled.  We have completely reworked the cassette holder and introduced a new part which holds onto the PTFE tube.

So far with this updated design, we have had a 100% success rate. Definitely worth looking at printing to upgrade your machine!

Next we have updated the screen holder with the goal to increase the durability as we have a SINGLE cracked screen frame caused by shipping. The issue was that the screen was unable to flex at all and any impact enough to cause a bend would shatter the part instead. The new design saves ~80% of the material but has noticeably increased the durability and survivability of the holder.  We have also improved  how we use packing material for protecting the screen.

The linear rods (z direction) have also had a process change. We have subjected our printer to several vibration/shipping related tests and noted on a very select few machines, the aluminium rod clamp bolts worked themselves free. This shouldn’t have happened in the first place due to the material difference causing a locking effect, but it did happen, so now we also Loctite the bolts into place.

There are also several smaller process and part updates, but overall the machine is more polished with increased durability. To download the updated parts the link is here: Secure-Downloads – Construct3D (construct-3d.com)

 

Shipping updates

Let’s start with the pressing items.

UK KICKSTARTER BACKERS IS 100% FULFILLED!

It took longer than initially estimated, but it has been worth the extended timeframe as we have been updating and fixing issues along the way, and with the feedback of the early backers, the latter have directly received a better unboxing experience.

We have also validated that our packing materials are more than suitable, only having 1 printer with minor vibration based damage (some bolts worked themselves free) and one XL that the shipping company decided to re-box ?! and didn’t use our specially designed packing materials. No wonder it didn’t survive.  Due to this we are looking into alternative shipping providers as this behaviour is unacceptable to us.

Every other printer, both C1 and XL arrived safely and we have even been given feedback by some experienced packaging engineers who are extremely happy with how the packaging is designed to be both minimal in material but overbuilt for safety.

US and EU shipping timelines

The delays are over! (I hope), we expect to start fulfilling EU printers in 2 weeks, as we are just waiting on a signature by our authorised rep! Not long now.

For US backers, the current timeline till fulfilment is ~10 weeks. This time is just because we are waiting on lab results to fully qualify our printer for NRTL and the associated directives in order to safely sell in US markets. We really wanted this to be at the same time as the EU machines, but it turned out to be a lot more complex than initially thought, and two people just couldn’t keep up with balancing all the plates. Not to worry though, all your printers are already pre-upgraded to the V1.1 so just hang on a little bit more.

We really appreciate your patience, and we share your frustrations with these delays.

Filament changer system

While I cannot talk too much about this, as it’s still got an upcoming full announcement, we are progressing quite rapidly with a drop on filament system. The goal is to make a robust, easily hackable system that is capable of accepting 3Kg spools.  There will of course be more features, but for now I just wanted to say that our ecosystem is slowly growing!

That’s it for this update. The next one should hopefully say we are shipping EU printers!