Advanced features

Upgrades, cross-grades and stick-ons can boost a 3D printer’s functionality.

There’s a list of key features and functionality that you need to be aware of when shopping around for a 3D printer. Some of these features would have been simply nice to have a couple of years ago, but are now essential.

The first feature that we mentioned in the previous section is auto bed levelling; its inclusion will save you hours of frustration. The next is the ability to swap out the tool head; the SideKick 747, RoboxDual and MK3S have a good selection of tool heads available, enabling you to print using a huge array of materials.

The SnapMaker only features one 3D print tool head and this obviously limits the selection of materials that it can print with. However, because it’s a 3-in-1 machine it can also carry out laser and CNC tasks, which the other machines are unable to do. The Kobra Max also only has one head, but in its defence the printer enables you to swap out the nozzles. While this involves a little more work on your behalf, it does the job.

All five printers automatically stop when the filament runs out. This enables you to pick up printing at the same point when you replace the filament. Touch screens are also something to look for, with the SnapMaker and Kobra Max sporting excellent examples. Intelligent monitoring is something that the RoboxDual does exceptionally well, with the head, reels, machine and software all linked and sharing data; it’s a very intelligent workflow process.

Error checking in all its forms is essential, and both the RoboxDual and especially the MK3S have high levels of adjustability for the accuracy of the first layer. Having built-in levelling checks and tests such as those in the RoboxDual help to save time and effort.