Continuous Length Printing

With the heated belt inhabiting the Z-axis, there’s really no upper limit to the length of items you can print, providing you have the space, of course. Aside from just printing really long stuff, this printer allows you to print a continual series of stuff, so you can print a small armada of Benchy test prints now instead of just the odd one or two at a time. If they don’t come off the end of the One’s belt naturally, they’ll be separated using an integrated scraper.

This setup is at the leading edge of FDM printing right now, so it’s going to be very interesting to see what is possible with this system. iFactory isn’t the only one playing with it at the moment though, let’s not forget Creality’s 3DPrintMill, also currently on Kickstarter, is almost ready to be released upon the world.

The print belt can reach temperatures of up to 100 C.

CoreXY Movement

CoreXY movement is something that is starting to appear on more and more 3D printers now, and many high-end business printers using the layout. In theory, smoother, more accurate printing is possible with a coreXY, thanks to less vibration and improved head movements. iFactory will have to ensure that its belts are of a sufficient quality and tension to deliver a quality execution of this system though.

Cloud Capability

Mentioned in one of iFactory’s videos is the ability to send prints to the One from anywhere in the world. According to the founders, you can tell the printer to get to work from one location, and the printer will do its job in another, no matter the distance.

The system uses the Octoprint web app at its core, with an iFactory-skinned version serving as your browser-based portal to tap into and control the One. Presumably it is through this that you will be able to utilize one of the One’s more interesting, and hopefully seldom-needed, features – PrinterGuard.

PrinterGuard Error Detection

There’s currently work being undertaken by iFactory on error detection software that, using a Raspberry Pi camera and running through Octoprint, monitors the progress of printing and can automatically detect errors and take action to counter them. It’s a fascinating idea and could be a really useful string to the iFactory One’s bow, especially with a mind on long term batch production work.

Titan Style Extruder

It’s not explicitly said if it’s a genuine E3D Titan extruder, or another brand using E3D’s open source design. Regardless of origin, the iFactory One will ship a Titan extruder, and that’s certainly no bad thing. This extruder feeds a hot end that can reach a cosy 260 C, while the heated plate under the belt can reach 100 C. You won’t be printing tricky engineering-grade filaments, but then that’s not necessarily the kind of printing you’d want to rattle off in large batches anyway.

Integrated HD Camera

Great for keeping an eye on how your prints are going if you’re away from HQ, particularly if you’re doing a big series of prints, which is a real possibility given that’s exactly what this printer is designed for.