The 3D printing industry reviews the Snapmaker 2.0 3D printer.

Snapmaker 2.0 is designed and manufactured by Shenzhen-based Snapmaker. It is a three-in-one modular FFF 3D printer with CNC processing and laser engraving/cutting functions. As the successor to the company's debut Snapmaker Original system, this desktop was originally a very successful Kickstarter campaign that raised $7.8 million with more than 7,000 backers.

Snapmaker 2.0 is now available in three different models, the smaller A150 ($1,199), the mid-range A250 ($1,499), and the large format A350 ($1,799). Snapmaker 2.0 aims to create waves in the three-in-one manufacturing engine. For this review, we will use the top A350.

Snapmaker 2.0 is undoubtedly built for the workshop, providing users with all the manufacturing capabilities that DIY enthusiasts might want. When needed, users can replace a single 3D print head for CNC tools or laser diodes, which means that the sky is limitless in terms of creative potential. However, this is not to say that the system is inaccessible, as all the setup steps are listed in the comprehensive instruction manual, and all the necessary manual tools can be found in the box.

The system starts at an astonishing $1,199, which is very affordable and suitable for almost anyone who wants to start their craft, including professional engineers, designers, educational institutions, and even advanced professional consumers.

Given that Snapmaker is committed to a three-in-one manufacturing system, the company also provides many additional components for use with Snapmaker 2.0, including housings and rotating modules. We will cover all of these and more in this review.

First is the 3D printer

The core of Snapmaker 2.0 is still the FFF 3D printer. The machine uses a Cartesian coordinate system, with a smooth and particularly strong anodized aluminum chassis and an open form. The largest of the three models is the A350 variant, which has a build volume of 320 x 350 x 330 mm. This is much larger than an ordinary desktop 3D printer, so it should provide plenty of leeway for most engineering projects of reasonable scale.

We found that the single print head of this system is light-weight and well-designed, with a magnetic sensor as standard. The maximum nozzle temperature is 275°C. Equipped with a direct drive extruder, this configuration should have no problem when printing materials such as PLA, ABS, PETG and TPU.

When it comes to build plates, Snapmaker chose to implement a magnetic printing bed with glued smooth build surfaces on both sides. If one of the faces is damaged, the user only needs to turn the bed over and use the other side-this is a small but welcome consideration. The heating bed can be heated up to 80°C, which is essential for the adhesion of parts and the prevention of the bottom surface of the printed product from warping.

It is also worth mentioning that Snapmaker 2.0 is equipped with a Cortex-M4 processor (1.1GHz quad-core A7 CPU) and an Android controller. Recently, we have seen some manufacturers apply Android to their high-end 3D printers, which is absolutely unique in terms of user experience. The 5-inch full-color touch screen on the Snapmaker is responsive and provides a beautiful graphical user interface. It itself can be used to preview print models, calibrate the bed, load supplies, and manage print jobs. The system also has Wi-Fi capabilities, which is always a godsend for remote work.

Unfortunately, the bed calibration process is indeed where Snapmaker 2.0 faltered. The company chose an automatic multi-point leveling system based on a magnetic proximity sensor. This often brings challenges when trying to achieve the first layer of success.

Unlike other similar printers, the Snapmaker's bed does not have any physical screws to manually increase or decrease the distance from the nozzle. It also does not have any springs for placing the build plate. This combination (or lack of combination) makes it extremely difficult to achieve a flat horizontal bed parallel to each axis.

Conversely, once the system considers itself to be flat, the user can modify the Z offset through the touch screen in increments as small as 0.05 mm. Although this is sufficient to achieve successful printing, the first layer is usually flawed, and achieving this is unnecessarily difficult. Therefore, we recommend using a raft for 3D printing on this printer. This will help reduce errors in the first layer.

Laser engraving and CNC machining

Of course, Snapmaker 2.0 is more than just a 3D printer. The three-in-one machine is also equipped with its own laser cutting/engraving and CNC module, which users can simply screw on to replace the 3D print head. In addition, the system has a wide aftermarket, which means there are a large number of additional components and additional modules available (more on this later).

First, we will look at the core "out-of-the-box" modules contained in the printer itself-laser cutting machine and CNC. The laser cutting machine is a blue Class 4 diode with a working power of 1.6W and a wavelength of 450nm. The module is internally designed by Snapmaker and looks as elegant as a 3D print head, but it also has a built-in camera to preview the design before engraving.

The module provides four main functions according to the application: black and white, grayscale, vector (contour cutting) and text. The laser is compatible with a variety of substrates, including wood, acrylic, polymers, and even leather. It is worth noting that the system is also equipped with a special aluminum laser station, which does a good job in reducing reflectivity.

Although the user must recalibrate the laser cutting machine every time the module is switched, we are pleased to announce that the effect of the automatic process is significantly better than that of the 3D printing module.

On the other hand, users can also turn Snapmaker 2.0 into a CNC router by replacing the subtraction tool head. The CNC module has an ER11 chuck, which can accommodate hundreds of different third-party drill bits with a diameter range of 0.5mm-6.35mm (0.02"-0.25"). The spindle speed can also vary between 6,000 – 12,000 RPM.

Just like the laser engraving machine, the CNC module also has its own dedicated processing bed, which is a movable MDF waste cardboard. A series of embedded threads are dotted around the circuit board, and users can screw up to four clips into it. These fixtures are used to hold the workpiece in place while milling the workpiece, and they do a very good job-no complaints.

In terms of core functions, the CNC head provides text, emboss, and vectors, which also depends on the application. Text and Relief are used to engrave text and images, respectively, while Vector is used to cut object outlines.

Snapmaker also kindly sent us three optional add-ons for us to try out: a shell, a rotating module and an emergency stop button.

The housing is made of high-quality anodized aluminum and can be used with all three core modules. For 3D printing modules, it helps to maintain the temperature in the build chamber, which is essential for printing with higher temperature filaments such as ABS. When used with a laser engraving machine, the filter plate helps to protect the user's eyes, and through the CNC module, it prevents cutting chips and material debris from flying around the workshop.

In addition, the housing also has an exhaust pipe to exhaust odors and harmful particles from the work area, which means that we can conduct all tests indoors safely and comfortably. There is even a built-in termination switch, which will automatically stop Snapmaker 2.0 if the door of the enclosure is opened. All in all, we believe that Enclosure provides too much value and should not be missed. It is a necessary addition to Snapmaker 2.0.

Moving on, we also rotated the rotation module. Much like a lathe, the rotating module rotates the workpiece on a horizontal plane. This optional module is designed for use with laser engraving machines or CNC tools, and is most suitable for cylindrical and rectangular cuboid substrates, so that images and texts can be engraved or cut around continuously rotating objects.

Finally, we had the opportunity to try out a big red emergency stop button. Apart from the fact that it works as expected and prevents Snapmaker 2.0 from stopping, there is nothing to say (although this should indeed be included in the box and not as an optional add-on).

Snapmaker provides its own slicing software for Snapmaker 2.0, which is called Snapmaker Luban. The program features a well-thought-out gray and blue UI, and its operation is very similar to most other FFF slicers on the market. The basic translation, rotation, and rescaling functions are all there and responsive. However, we found that the software lacks some more complex process parameters, which may be a problem for advanced users.

Of course, Luban can also generate gcode for laser and CNC modules, and provides various manufacturing mode options for each module. It is compatible with Autodesk Fusion 360 for CNC operations and Cura for 3D printing operations.

Nonetheless, we found that Luban is one of the more intuitive slicing platforms we use in the 3D printing industry, and everything from automatic support generation to default printing configuration files works as expected. In the end, all it takes to understand the complexity of software is a little bit of trial and error and a little bit of common sense.

It's time to see the real features of the Snapmaker 2.0 3D printer. We started with the 3D printing industry’s own PLA benchmark model, which merged many of our smaller print tests into one integrated part.

For this test, we assign a weighted score to each individual part based on factors such as dimensional accuracy, surface quality, and structural integrity. The A350 has an overall rating of 63/100 in the 3D printing industry-an excellent professional 3D printer is 60. Below you will find some bell curves depicting the repeatability of Snapmaker.

Snapmaker's performance was average in this test, because it 3D printed most of the individual parts, which reached a good standard. The drape was successfully printed to 60° without any problems, and the horizontal bridging test was printed until the 30 mm mark. There was some slight wire drawing in the retraction test, but there was nothing that could not be removed in the post-processing, and the spiked structure itself was strong and the surface quality was acceptable.

However, in the negative accuracy test, the leveling process disappointed the system because the printing tubes could not be removed so easily-we only managed to pull down three of them. We think this may be related to the flatness of the first layer, because the bottom of the tubes seems to be stronger than they should be.

Then, we 3D printed a circular trajectory test to understand how Snapmaker handles circular structures. By studying the normal distribution of the diameters of concentric circles, we can say that when the average value of the difference is below 0.1mm and the standard deviation is below 0.05mm, the printer has sufficient repeatability. Our measuring equipment is accurate to ±0.015mm.

Snapmaker has achieved some strong results here, which really surprised us. The average offset of the X axis is only 0.115 mm, and the average offset of the Y axis is only 0.085 mm. This results in an average value of 0.091 mm for all axes. The average standard deviation is also very low at 0.035 mm, of which 0.05 mm is a good target. In terms of context, industrial FFF 3D printers usually have dimensional accuracy of up to 0.1 mm, which makes them qualified for applications such as high-precision automotive molds.

Like all our comments, we also asked the system to print an art model to see how it handles itself in the real world. This time, it is a sanitary statue, which can be found in the garden of Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna. Overall, the performance of Snapmaker 2.0 is admirable, with a smooth surface and well-preserved features. The only real defects on the prints are the scars left by the support structures that are more difficult to remove, and the defects on the bottom of the model due to poor flatness.

Next, we try to use the laser module for some cutting and engraving tests. First, we broke the limits of the machine by cutting and engraving the test matrix on the plywood. We do this to evaluate the quality of the laser and better understand the differences in parameters-please feel free to use our results as a guide for your own projects. The best combination of parameters is the one with clear edges, solid filling, and minimal burn on the outer edge.

Next is a set of flat laser engraving tests: one is done on a leather wallet, and the other is to complete a world map on plywood. Both of these tests were performed on Luban using "grayscale" mode.

Each of these works was very clean, and we were very impressed because the edges of the logo and the map were very clean, with almost no blur caused by burning. Especially the leather wallets finally showed this rough, almost rock-like texture, and the touch was very good.

Then, we decided to try the laser's cutting ability through three different projects. The gift boxes and 3D printed industrial keychains designed by Snapmaker are made of plywood, while the laptop stickers are cut from vinyl. All three cutting tests use "vector" mode on Luban (using "grayscale" for engraving).

Once again, we are very impressed with the performance of the laser cutting machine. The gift box is precise enough to be assembled easily, and the vinyl stickers look like they were professionally made by experts. The 3D printing industry keychain even managed to simulate the color scheme of our logo, even though it was all grayscale.

Satisfied with the current performance, we then use the laser engraving machine in combination with the optional rotation module, which allows us to carve a series of images and text into rotating objects. The rotating laser test is as follows: London Bridge on cardboard, manufacturing text on PLA bullets, chemical symbols on transparent PP beakers, and London Underground logo on ceramic cups.

Cardboard, PLA and PP can handle lasers well, with engraving densities of 7, 4 and 4 dots/mm, respectively. The image of London Bridge is particularly stunning because it looks like an old photo from a distance. However, the ceramic cup was indeed where the cracks started, and the underground signs looked mottled and faded. It is worth noting that this is due to the material selection and the variable gradient of cup curvature rather than the laser itself.

Turning to the CNC module, we processed a Snapmaker-designed smartphone holder made of 3.2 mm thick acrylic sheet. The CNC test used a flat end mill (1.5mm) running at 12,000 RPM and a working speed of 300mm/min. We are very happy to see that the CNC runs exactly as expected, the final surface of the part is smooth, and it can be easily removed from the workbench. In addition, the smartphone holder works perfectly-a huge victory.

Finally, we combined the CNC and the rotary module for four final benchmark tests. It includes an epoxy chess piece, an epoxy lion, an epoxy PolyPearl tower and a wooden PolyPearl tower (linden tree).

We can only say wow. The CNC and the rotary module form a great team. Our chess pieces and lions are very detailed, and the passage of the tool head is almost invisible to the naked eye. The same is true for the PolyPearl tower torture test, because the spiral geometry is machined with extremely high precision. Snapmaker 2.0 really exceeded expectations here.

Snapmaker 2.0 relied on the advantages of its predecessor to raise nearly 8 million US dollars in its initial crowdfunding campaign, and it is not difficult to see why. Snapmaker clearly knows its role in the 3-in-1 manufacturing system and has established one of the most cost-effective workshop partners we have had the honor of reviewing.

Don't get me wrong, this machine is far from perfect. The print quality is slightly above average, the 3D printer calibration process requires work, and daily operations are too noisy for a close office environment.

Nevertheless, Snapmaker 2.0 offers too many things in such an affordable package to be missed. We can even say that the 3D printing function of the system is the weakest, but the laser and CNC modules carry their weight, and then some. As far as optional add-ons are concerned, the housing is an absolute must, if you want to make an old spin on the market, the spin module can change the rules of the game.

Purchase a Snapmaker 2.0 3D printer here. The system can be ordered now, starting at $1,199.

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The featured image shows Snapmaker 2.0. Photo courtesy of the 3D printing industry.

With a degree in mechanical engineering, Kubi Sertoglu combines a passion for writing with a technical background to provide the latest news and reviews in the field of additive manufacturing.

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