New MakerTech toolchanger kickstarter.. Uh Oh for the Prusa XL

[Bryan Eckert]

I may actually have to pledge to this one, they have delivered a number of tool changers now on kickstarter. 

5 heads, 500x400x500 build volume, enclosure and dryer box for about $3K.

https://youtu.be/Zg2UjETXYAI?si=XY0buRw8PS4-oMGP

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/proforge-3d-printer/proforge5?ref=efhm4f

[Kurt]

WOW - that is PRICEY! But, then again - probably inline with pricing of the XL. But, yeah - will this be the XL Killer?

Ah - I just saw it was ProForge doing it. So, yeah - I think this WILL be a good campaign to back - and WILL get Delivered - unlike my "OLO" 3DP - that turned into the "ONO" - was literally like - "Oh No - We will NEVER Deliver!"...

Interesting times indeed!!!  This is DEF a Printer that Andy should talk about in a Podcast episode.

I wonder if the ProForge people know about Andy's "Cult of FCS" - as it's a Cult that is Definitely Gaining Steam AND Followers!!!

-K

[Bryan Eckert]

I'm also interested in the 300 - which is a 300x300x300 build volume but only 3 print heads. With enclosure it's $1500:

https://www.makertech3d.com/pages/proforge-300

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[Bryan Eckert]

Also, Prusa XL with 5 print heads and enclosure is $4K so this isn't that bad.

On Tue, Jul 29, 2025 at 9:58 AM Kurt <kurt.the...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Kurt]

Agreed - better price that the XL - and bigger print volume too - or So I believe...

-K

[3D Printing Tips and Tricks]

Yes the price on this is very compelling… but please note before you pledge… It uses the cam-lock method. This was the method E3d used. The method Prusa uses is way superior as is the approach used in the open source designs for the Voron, The cam lock requires a motor of some kind on the carriage which adds mass and needs cabling, etc.

The toolchanger I am waiting for uses Bondtech tools.

[Sophie]

I have one of these (300) Bryan - and so does Vance (and maybe one other user on this forum) 
Its been an interesting ride. I've been following the others building theirs as I built mine slightly after (I was delayed in building it after my old man had a stroke last year), and it basically came to a bit of a stand still for a while due to the Eddy probe just not doing as it should. 
I have a pal in the US as well also been building his, and actually hes pretty good in the coding department and hes actually been requesting pulls on the Github where he's sussed the problems out and fixed them for Makertech. He's still having problems with his though. Prints beautifully with one head, but getting all three heads working together has been a bit of a challenge.

In the beginning Makertech were pretty good - responsive, eager to fix problems, engaging with the community, and reactive to responding to part replacement requests...but since the Proforge 5 has been announced (and slightly before then) you could tell that their minimal resource had been pulled away to go deliver the next new thing. 

I think Vance went on a bit of a hiatus from building his, to take a break from the frustrations, and not sure if he got back to it. I took a break too from mine, I'm very much more a mechanical engineer than a software debugging one, so I have my limitations when it comes to firmware problems. I'm hoping to dedicate some serious time back to it at the end of this month though since there have been a couple of fixes/workarounds implemented now (mainly by the community).

When we saw the Proforge 5 come out on kickstarter we just kinda thought "hey! come fix the 300 before you start on a new adventure!" So I'm not entirely sure what the 5 will bring and whether it means fresh fixes for the 300 as they improve the 5 or whether the new toy will take their attentions away from the problems of the 300. From the chats that go on in the discord it seems even people with the  Proforge 4.2 also get their fair share of problems too. Its a shame because it had such promise - I'm hoping the fact that its completely open source will mean over time things will get better, but it just needs the community base to build a bit more. 

Once things have been fixed and it works the dream it could - I'll be sure to come back and paint the printer in glorious colours - but for now - it's been a journey!

We'll see.

[Gary Tolley - Grogyan]

This has my attention. 

But needs more investigation whether it it is truly unique or just a rip off a Voron design

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