The “Swapmod” kit was originally shared on Bambu Lab’s forum, and is now a Kickstarter campaign seeking to automatically load and unload build plates during printing.
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Earlier this year, we covered an upcoming kit for Bambu Lab A1 Mini 3D printers that would allow users to automatically print with multiple build plates in the same project. Now, its creator has launched a Kickstarter campaign.
The kit is called “Swapmod” and is set for a January 2025 ship date. It leverages a “magazine” into which up to 10 empty build plates can be loaded, with printers automatically loading, ejecting, and replacing the plates as they fill.
In this way, the kit effectively increases the print area of an A1 Mini 3D printer, with nine build plates equaling 54 x 54 cm. This, of course, maintains the single-part size limitations of the A1 Mini, but would make for much more efficient printing of groups of parts.
It would also improve efficiency when printing with multiple materials or colors, as they can be assigned to specific plates, reducing the need for costly or time-intensive material swaps. The same goes for complex or tricky parts: by printing them on different plates, you can reduce the likelihood of a failed print damaging other prints around it.
Better yet, you wouldn’t necessarily need nine or ten plates to get full use out of Swapmod, the campaign says. If you don’t mind a little manual intervention you can clear a finished plate and reinsert it into the magazine, ready for more continuous 3D printing.
Users can remotely control Swapmod via a slicer or Bambu Lab’s Handy App, ordering their printer to reload or eject build plates on command. It arrives as a DIY kit comprised of pre-built and printable parts. Build plates, however, are not included.
Once installed, you’ll also need to download an application called “Swaplist” that adds multi-plate printing functionality to Bambu Studio and OrcaSlicer, enabling users to queue, order, and otherwise fine-tune the parts that will be printed on Swapmod-loaded build plates.
Swapmod Kickstarter pledges start at around $60 for early bird packages and go up to $73.