Snapmaker 7th Anniversary Column | Letter from Henry Martinez

Hi Makers,

Snapmaker met many of our users because of Kickstarter. And Henry is exactly one of our backers, who supported J1 in 2021 because of its build quality and innovative calibration method.

When did you become a Snapmaker user?

I morphed from a Jadelabo user to a Snapmaker User on the day Snapmaker acquired Jadelabo, then officially on the joyous day of my J1’s arrival.

Why did you choose Snapmaker?

Having previously been the VP of R&D for a capital equipment manufacturing company: I was looking for the IDEX printer that had both a solid mechanical foundation (the castings) and an innovative enablement of software for automated calibration. The J1 met those specifications along with a very clean and current design style.

What is the most memorable project you have ever done with Snapmaker 3D printer?

There are two that stand out for me: one was a collaborative effort among several members of the J1 owners’ Facebook group to beta test an internal spool holder retrofit. The testing really made for a better design that worked on a multitude of slicers and materials – as a result, I see many many users who are enjoying the design.

Snapmaker J1 HEPA/Charcoal filter retrofit by Henry (Check out the model: https://www.printables.com/model/446939-snapmaker-j1-hepacharcoal-filter-retrofit?fbclid=IwAR3LA7XyrwryaWJb26ngBRvLu6DH-diTAYbqwPJlb_ol9CsHcLD7J3rT5xk)

The other is a project done for my grandchildren in which they learned how to use TinkerCad and also came away feeling equally enabled to “make” things with the colored filaments as they do with colored crayons.

3D-printed and hand-painted “Hello Kitty” pencil holders for Henry’s grandchild’s school birthday party

Since becoming a Snapmaker user, what have you gained in your maker journey? 

IDEX type printing not only has improved my manufacturing bandwidth but has also enabled more complex designs using support materials or multi-color designs as well. What is great is that Snapmaker has continued to keep pace with my needs with software that is continually improved with new features, such as the new “painting” feature in Luban.

From your perspective, what progress has Snapmaker made over these years?

I don’t have any experience with Snapmaker before the J1, so I can only speak of what I’ve seen since the merge with Jadelabo. I see an agile, innovative company that has discovered it can use a platform, such as Kickstarter, to fund leapfrog product development programs. They know that a product is never done and working to improve issues that are being reported within the community of users.

What do you want to say to Snapmaker team?

I want to say thank you for all your efforts to date. Thank you for keeping the promises made. I would remind the product developers that no product is perfect (there have been similar issues discussed by a minority of users )so aftermarket support is very important to establish credibility and continue to attract new users. Listen closely to your most demanding users – they will help drive your next innovations. Some of us use these machines in an R&D and light manufacturing operation (as I do) and have high uptime requirements. By the way – my machine has paid for itself many times over and continues to be a trusted workhorse. I’m grateful to have been able to support the J1 user community with a balanced view of the printer’s capabilities (for me, it has been a very positive experience) and share a couple of retrofit designs that provide features that have been in demand.