Sovol is Bringing IDEX Back with Its Upcoming M1D Toolchanger 3D Printer
The M1D mixes the traditional benefits of IDEX like copy and mirror modes with the flexibility of a toolchanger. Currently in a deposit scheme, it'll eventually launch on Kickstarter, starting at $1,499.
The teaser we flagged back in April has a name. At the time we theorized that mystery machine was a toolchanger retrofit for Sovol’s Voron-inspired SV08 or SV08 Max. It isn’t. Now fully revealed with a pre-order deposit scheme in tow, the Sovol M1D is an all-new standalone platform, and is packing for the toolchanging game of one-upmanship we’re seeing play out in 3D printing this year.
Sovol will be bringing the M1D to Kickstarter, but for now is running a $20 deposit scheme on its own website which gives depositors access to a “VIP” lane that knocks $100 off the super early bird pledge tier of $1,499.
Sovol has taken an independent dual extrusion (IDEX) layout – two independent printheads sharing an X-axis – leaving one of the heads a fixed single extruder and making the other an automated toolchanger. They call this system DualX, and it’s able to cycle through six docked, independently heated heads. Conceptually, it mixes a few things we’ve seen before: you have the independent printheads of a traditional IDEX, plus then a layer of complexity in one of those IDEX heads being able to switch nozzles out, and then of those nozzles, each has it’s own filament path like any traditional toolchanger or the Bondtech INDX. You get a 1+6 nozzle capability – a little like the Bambu Lab H2C – in a single print job, although with the advantage of different print “modes” like duplication or mirror, which have both printheads printing simultaneously.
It’s an unusual approach that seems fitting for the roster of distinct nozzle changers, toolchangers and systems in between that have come to define the last year in 3D printing. But Sovol does have something of a lineage here – the M1D isn’t completely out of the blue. Sovol released the SV04 independent dual extrusion (IDEX) years ago, a mid/large volume printer that leveraged the dual heads to offer copy and mirror modes, as well as dual color prints. It was moderately well received, with the most common issue being that it was pretty hands-on – indicative of both the time and IDEX.
Consumer IDEX largely died out as AMS-style spool feeders took over multi-material printing; convenience beat complexity, not least because calibration and reliability on cheap machines made it more hassle than it was worth. But perhaps it was inevitable that IDEX would make an appearance again sometime.
According to a preorder teaser page detailing the printer, at 5 seconds Sovol’s DualX claims toolchange swap parity with the likes of Snapmaker’s U1. You get a 300 x 300 x 350 mm build volume to print in. The bed is mapped by eddy current probe for leveling, while toolhead alignment is handled via camera-based offset detection and a motorized toolchanger Z-offset system to dynamically adjust the nozzle height mid-job, Sovol claims. This will inevitably be where the M1D lives or dies – calibration.
The M1D combines two tricky technologies – a toolchanger and IDEX – after all. Sovol’s machines are popular in circles content to go hands-on. We’re looking forward to finding out whether the M1D is more plug-and-play than plug-and-pray.
Registering for updates on the Sovol website gets you access to the M1D deposit page.
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