Flashforge takes aim at the U1

[Bryan Eckert]

Smaller bed though (same size as X1C, 255mm)

Starts at $649

https://all3dp.com/4/flashforges-creator-5-toolchanger-takes-aim-at-the-snapmaker-u1-starting-at-649/

[Levi Smith]

Ohh, I am a bit tempted to take a chance on that...  Guess I'll hold out and see if the other companies follow suit and we get something for under $500...

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[Ed Street]

So, smaller bed, smaller price, and LONGER to swap?  How is that better?  That seems like second-rate garbage.  We need a larger build plate and a shorter print time!!

[Levi Smith]

Depends on your needs.  Personally, I'm looking for about the cheapest way to easily and reliably do full contact support of PETG with PLA support and that size is fine.  

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[Ed Street]

So you want a rotating nozzle setup then ;)

https://www.3dnatives.com/en/rotating-nozzle-reduces-filament-waste-280820244/  no purge, no prime, no wipe, no swap, just plain rotate.

[Levi Smith]

That sounds fine too.  I currently find myself in life with too many things to do and not enough time.  I've got about 5 printers that need some amount of tinkering and I haven't gotten to it in years.  And I currently have one intermittent paying job with 2 parts that have overhangs.  So, I'm looking for something that I can buy as cheaply as possible, throw in the file and within like 8 or so hours have a finished part with ideally no post processing.

Theoretically my Tenlog idex should be able to do it, but I had really bad results when I tried.  I'm sure with enough parts replacement, adjusting, etc it should be able to get there but again, it's taking too much time to mess around with it.

I got the Anycubic S1 because I thought I'd heard that it should work, but I played around with pure volumes, etc. and could never get anything that wasn't super weak on the layer lines with petg/pla supports.  And at less than 1000 hours it's getting flaky about when or how long it decides to print even single material...

So I bought a new Centauri Carbon for $300 a few months ago and made a batch of parts with that.  And to be fair, they came out quite clean even with PETG supports.  But I'm always on the lookout for a cheaper/easier solution! :)

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[LukeH]

The cheaper base model Creator 5 is also open frame, so is a PLA/PETG/TPU machine only (which is mostly fine - that covers like 80% of 3D printer users, despite what people claim).. The closed frame version (the Creator 5 Pro) is about the same price as the Snapmaker. That said, it also has a chamber heater, which is something the U1 doesn’t have (although it is compatible with the Biqu Panda Breath). Still smaller though. 

Still, we won’t know any details for true comparisons until actual Flashforge units exist in the hands of people who don’t work for Flashforge. I’m interested to see a comparison of their tool changer mechanisms, and their filament feed systems, and their print speeds.

I will say I’m very happy with my Snapmaker U1, so it is all kinda academic. I’m not going to sell it and buy a Flashforge.

[Bryan Eckert]

I do find all the variations interesting and wonder which one will finally shake out to a “standard”.

We have the tool changers like the XL, U1, this Flashforge.

We have the nozzle changers like the H2C, the new Atomform.

And the INDX which is a little bit of both. 

All have pluses and minuses. The complete tool changers are a lot more complex, and have a lot more parts to fail, and are limited by space. But if a tool head fails you can print with the other tool heads (if firmware allows).

The nozzle changers are less complex (but look more complex). They are slower (for now), but offer more colors/materials over dedicated tool heads. I think the buffer system shown by AtomForm will be copied by Bambu (though Bambu kind of has it already in the A1) They also offer a lot of flexibility in terms of changing up nozzle sizes very easily, and ability to have a lot more tool heads in a smaller space. If the tool head fails you’re down, though.

The INDX has a blend of all pluses and minuses. But it can fit far more nozzles in less space than the other designs. I really hope the Sovol machine is an INDX machine, and that it fits in the space I have lol.

Ultimately, multicolor printings biggest flaw is $$$. With two 4-slot AMS units and one HT AMS, my H2C can print 9 colors at once. At ~$15 per roll that’s $135 in filament just to print a model in 9 colors. 

Or, I could print in single color and paint it with $10 worth of paint. Which is still the best solution. As such, I mainly use one color and the right nozzle has support material for full contact support. The AMS units have a variety of materials.

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[Kurt The 3D Printer GUY!!]

Hey there Levi,

I'm in the Same boat as you - TOO Many projects I want to work on - and yet Limited time in life. Specially with that Annoying crap that gets in the way - you know - a Full time job! Ugh...

Lately - I have been Seriously jumping back into 3D Design and 3D Printing in a REALLY BIG Way - juggling Multiple projects. And, I really need to share MORE of them with the group here. One is completed, another one I started earlier this week (and produced 2 different prototypes so far) - and yet another BIG Project - that I started maybe 2 months ago - and am getting back to it - in Bursts. Again - I WILL Post about these projects soon...

The rest of my reply will be in Green and Inline Below - as I find it easier that way to reply to each "topic"...

On Friday, April 10, 2026 at 9:13:46 AM UTC-4 Levi Smith wrote:

That sounds fine too.  I currently find myself in life with too many things to do and not enough time.  I've got about 5 printers that need some amount of tinkering and I haven't gotten to it in years. 

I totally hear ya on the Tinkering of old 3DP's - I don't like to do it. It's not my thing. Admittedly - when my WanHao D6 kinda died years ago with a heating/thermistor issue - I was too lazy to fix it. IN the end - I lent that machine to a good buddy of mine - and fixing things like that is completely his Thing! Then, he held onto the printer for a while and did print some stuff with it. Eventually I got that printer back from him. Then, a few years ago - I got an Ender 3. But, that machine also kinda died - same kinda issue - a heating issue - I have NOT Fixed it - and, instead - I got the Centauri printer. So - yeah - part of it is me being LAZY (which I admit to) - and not fixing what is broken - and instead just getting a new printer. Plan is - if this co-worker makes Serious traction on helping me with a personal project of mine (one I plan to hopefully launch a KickStarter based upon it) - and once he makes headway - then I will have him print prototypes on my old Ender - by giving it to him - with the Caveat - that he first needs to Fix the problem!!! Which will also give him a better understanding of 3D Printers!

 

And I currently have one intermittent paying job with 2 parts that have overhangs. 

So - is this a customer that hits you up every once in a while to reprint parts that you previously designed for them? I'm just curious. And - are they kind of Big parts???

 

So, I'm looking for something that I can buy as cheaply as possible, throw in the file and within like 8 or so hours have a finished part with ideally no post processing.

I hear ya on the No Post processing part. Although - I do like to post process via Acetone Vapor smoothing only - cause it can REALLY Make parts look as though they were Injection Molded!

 

Theoretically my Tenlog idex should be able to do it, but I had really bad results when I tried.  I'm sure with enough parts replacement, adjusting, etc it should be able to get there but again, it's taking too much time to mess around with it.

Dang dude - that's Sad to see your problems with the Tenlog machine. I know Andy, who runs this forum and does the podcast - also Had/Has a Tenlog. But, I don't remember his feedback about the machine...

 

I got the Anycubic S1 because I thought I'd heard that it should work, but I played around with pure volumes, etc. and could never get anything that wasn't super weak on the layer lines with petg/pla supports.  And at less than 1000 hours it's getting flaky about when or how long it decides to print even single material...

Dang - that's too bad as well! Have you gone online to see what others say about the printer - and if there are existing solutions to some of your problems with the  Anycubic S1??? I hate to see a machine just sit around and get ZERO usage cause you have some problems with it. You might even do a bit of a Big writeup about your issues with the machine - then go use something like CoPilot to see if you could get some good answers about your problems - then potentially get back to using that machine. Either that - or CoPilot may simply confirm that the machine Sucks! Just sayin'...

So I bought a new Centauri Carbon for $300 a few months ago and made a batch of parts with that.  And to be fair, they came out quite clean even with PETG supports.  But I'm always on the lookout for a cheaper/easier solution! :)

So - is this the ECC TWO version of the machine - which has the AMS type unit??? I've heard some Grumblings about the ECC 2 machine on Reddit. And, yeah - I have the ECC1 w/No AMS type unit on it...

-K

 

[Luke Hartfiel]

But it isn’t like you buy $135 in filament and use it all on one print, and filament doesn’t go bad like milk in the fridge (assuming you store it correctly). That is some interesting  math - like saying that it cost you $150 to hang a painting on the wall because you had to buy a cordless drill and some hooks. Does that mean the second painting you hang is free, as are all the other until either the drill breaks or your run out of hooks, or do you amortise the cost of the drill and hooks over all of the paintings you need to hang?

INDX will be interesting, but still won’t be as good as a true tool changer. When not in use, the nozzles are cold, and as a result nozzle swaps will be slower - if it takes an extra 4 to 12 seconds (what Bondtech are claiming) for the nozzle to heat up, then that almost doubles/triples the swap time (which Bondtech are claiming is “as low as” 14 seconds), compared to a tool changer (which takes like 6 to 8 seconds). INDX only works up to a maximum chamber temperature of 50 degrees (again, according to Bondtech), so no usefully heated build chambers.

Still the technologies around INDX will be interesting - inductive filament heating, IR contactless nozzle temperature measurement, automatic self tuning dual gear system, which would have to tune both gear tension as well as extrusion (newer printers, like the U1, use the measured electrical resistance on the extruder stepper driver as a measure of nozzle pressure, since nozzle pressure pushes filament both out the nozzle and equally back through the feeder system to the extruder gears. This is used to automatically tune extrusion rates and pressure advance. A bit like sensorless homing, but on steroids).

On 12 Apr 2026, at 12:52 am, Bryan Eckert <bigyel...@gmail.com> wrote:



[Lee Foulkes]

Got lured into the reserve for a flashforge. £10 shot to nothing. They say 1 in 100 get free (advert her in the uk anyhow). Although not looking to buy any more printers until i find some room. A1 is still my go to for zipping out draft parts for size and still the one i recommend to people that ask. Although i did find myself advising not to go with the AMS and to wait and see what happens in the tool changer market.