“Beta30’s are taking over the US” 

Machines are out in the wild and being put through their paces by our trusted Beta testers! So far, we've smoothly shipped 16 ToolChangers across Europe and the States and the next batch - due to ship early February - will complete our Beta programme. Thus far we've reported no major issues and the only thing we are currently reconsidering is whether side panels should be included as part of the default kit: it seems these panels contribute to the stiffness more than we expected. This, plus a few extra grub screws being needed here and there, are the only issues we're facing at the moment, meaning there is nothing that we can foresee delaying the project.

"Quality and precision of supplied machined parts is top-class"

“After stiffening the printer, the motion system really seems to be perfect!” 
Adalinda: The Singing Serpent modeled by @Loubie_3D printed by René Jurack - 37 hours, 25cm tall and 2,807 tool changes!

In reference to the Adalinda model printed above, it's worth us pointing out that despite the large number of tool changes they only contribute 5% from our initial time penalty calculations. It's clear that the ToolChanger is much faster than other multi material systems that require lengthy purging and sacrificial printing objects.

So, what happens next?

In order to keep the momentum of the project rolling we are giving our Beta testers until 1st March to provide us with their feedback. All feedback is being recorded, and documents updated as we’re going, but that date is the point at which we we will sit down and decide whether or not any re-engineering is required. Taking into consideration the feedback that we have received so far we are feeling confident that any adjustments to the ToolChanger and Motion System will be minimal and we can go full steam ahead with production.

Bearing this in mind, we have been able to do some provisional forecasting and anticipate that we will be in a position to start placing orders for all the parts and gearing up the production line at the end of March. We’ve been blown away by the amount of interest in the E3D ToolChanger and are responding to this increased demand by hiring more staff and renting another unit on the business park where assembly will take place. The foundations for the first production batch are being laid and we want to thank you all for your ongoing patience with this project: the finish line is near!

Lets get down to the numbers

*Please note these figures are still not set in stone but they are a very good indication of the final prices.

Full Kit: £2,600 (excluding VAT)

1 Motion System

1 ToolChanger Head

4 V6 Bowden Tools

1 Duet Wiring Loom

1 Duet Wi-Fi

1 Duex5

1 24V PSU

1 300x200 HT Heated Bed

4 Titans (2 Standard & 2 Mirrored, 1.75mm, Bowden Adaptor)

1 SSR

Let’s face it, we’re as excited as you guys to get these machine into the big wide world and need to stress to you that at this point our main commitment is to those 500+ customers who have paid deposits for their machines. In the future we will sell the ToolChanger Head separately -  ToolChanger Head: £150 (excluding VAT) - however this does require a small amount of re-engineering in order to make it easily mountable onto any printer.

Out with the old and in with the new! The new, upgraded ToolChanging plate has more load capacity and more precision

That’s enough from us: take a look at what our Beta Tester’s have been getting up to

YouTube:

Tony Akens - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy0ddxRt61cTmJZv_ZvXgg

René Jurack - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd941kne_z8&t=2s

Instagram:

Joe - @nemesis.robotics

Nikolai - @nikolai.py

Twitter:

Ezra - @EandEDesign

Keith - @_Tinkerz

Tyler - @TstarkEngineer

Tony - @kraegar

Rich -@RichRap3D

Blogs: 

Mike Hackney - https://www.sublimelayers.com/search/label/Tool%20Changer?&max-results=8

Ivor O'Shea Blog - https://ivoroshea.blogspot.com/

Romain Grangier Blog - https://www.facebook.com/additmtl/ 

ToolChanging 3D printers - https://www.facebook.com/groups/237615240416855/?ref=br_rs