It’s been a little more than half a year since China-based MakeX wrapped up a successful Kickstarter campaign for their M-One 3D printer, and now they say they’ve improved their software, Xmaker, to make it more efficient and user-friendly.
MakeX launched their digital light processing (DLP)-based SLA 3D printer, the M-One, and the design of the main control system and the electronics are open source.
“MakeX supports the freedom of development,” they said at the time. “That’s why the M-One DLP 3D printer is the first open source project of its kind. By promoting transparency and collaboration, we hope to foster an open community, where developers can work together and creativity grows. Along with providing open access of M-One’s source code to the 3D printing community, MakeX will promote the rich possibilities of open source through its mailing list, educational videos, and instructions available online. We believe in the free market of ideas and its ability to modify and improve the M-One system.”
MakeX says the M-One’s simple and user-friendly software was developed independently and it includes a variety of useful functions. A ‘hollow’ function can quickly make a solid object hollow to a specified shell thickness, which cuts down the amount of resin required. They say the function also provides the resin vat with a longer service life.
Xmaker also includes a support generator which automatically generates and allows for the manual editing of the supports.
An image modifier and printing trace log allows printing images to be repositioned and duplicated before printing. The company says this allows models to be modified and fine-tuned without reprocessing of each model, and the trace log identifies any “over used areas” within the resin vat to maximize each silicone layer.
The M-One is compatible with all third-party resins, but they do offer their own branded material called SubG+ from their official supplier, MakerJuice. The resin is available for $45 per liter.
The M-One printer features a build volume of 145 x 110 x 170 mm and can render fine detail up to 20 micron layer thicknesses with a 140 micron minimum. The suggested output speed for the printer is 2.5 centimeters per hour, and the printer uses a tilt mechanism and a patent-pending soft vat system.
The Flex vat “has both sufficient elasticity and tension to release the vacuum pressure,” and they say the silicone layer on the membrane can be easily replaced by users once its service life has passed.
The electronics and PCB board are Arduino-based, and they say that will allow users to include their own projectors as needed.
Have you used an M-One printer or Xmaker software? Let us know in the Xmaker forum thread on 3DPB.com.
