Sovol has opened a Kickstarter campaign for the M1D, an open source desktop 3D printer with two independent nozzles and seven swappable toolheads. The campaign has passed 2.8 million dollars against a goal of about 191,000 dollars. Early bird prices start at 1,299 dollars, with shipping expected from November.
Key facts
Two nozzles, seven toolheads, swap time of about five seconds
Kickstarter has raised over 2.8 million dollars
Essential 1,299 dollars, Advanced 1,599 dollars at early bird pricing
Shipping expected from November
Context IDEX stands for independent dual extruder: two print heads that move separately, so they can print copies or mirrored parts at the same time.
How does the toolhead system work?
The M1D has one fixed toolhead and one nozzle that can swap among the other six heads in about five seconds. Standby heads are kept warm so they can print as soon as they attach. In independent mode the nozzles can duplicate or mirror a print. In multi-head mode each nozzle can use a different material. Sovol claims multi-color prints run five times faster than a Bambu P1S with almost zero waste, a comparison that has not been verified independently.
What are the specs and variants?
Build volume is 300 x 300 x 350 mm, with nozzle speeds up to 600 mm/s and acceleration of 10,000 mm/s². The Essential costs 1,299 dollars and the Advanced 1,599 dollars at early bird pricing, excluding shipping. The Advanced adds a heated enclosure holding 60 °C, which allows ASA, PA and PC. The default slicer is OrcaSlicer. Water-soluble materials can serve as supports or molds. Failure prevention includes an eddy current leveling sensor, nozzle cameras and a 720p chamber camera, with AI spaghetti detection planned for a later firmware update.
What it means
The M1D is a desktop product, but it shows tool changing moving toward lower price points, as seen in other recent toolchanger stories on AddiWire. For small manufacturers, soluble supports and enclosed engineering polymers may suit jigs and prototypes. Crowdfunded delivery dates, speed claims and long-term support remain unproven, so any production use would need its own testing.
