LightMake's L4 Kickstarter Printer Packs Four Independent Toolheads

LightMake has launched a Kickstarter campaign for the L4, a desktop 3D printer with four independently moving toolheads designed for multi-colour, multi-material or parallel batch printing. The company says the design — separate physical gantries for each toolhead rather than filament-switching within a single nozzle — is meant to cut the waste and slow cycle times typical of multi-colour desktop printers.

Each toolhead can stay loaded with a different filament and switch between them in about a second, the company claims, without repeatedly purging filament through one nozzle; a sample print on the campaign page generated less than 1 gram of purge material. In duplication or mirror mode, the four nozzles can print up to four identical parts simultaneously.

The L4 uses a beltless, closed-loop linear-motor system instead of the stepper-and-belt setup common in desktop printers. LightMake claims travel speeds of up to 1,000 mm/s, print speeds of up to 500 mm/s, and motion precision of ±1 micrometre, with a die-cast frame and active vibration control meant to keep the system stable at those speeds; the company rates the linear motors for more than 50,000 hours of use.

The printer's usable build volume is 354 x 370 x 386 mm, and an optional filament expansion and drying system is claimed to extend it to as many as 16 colours. As with any crowdfunding campaign, these are company-stated specifications that have not been independently verified, and questions about long-term reliability and real-world print quality remain until production units reach buyers.

Kickstarter pricing starts at $1,299 for the L4 "Super Early Bird" tier, against a claimed retail price of $2,399, while a single-toolhead L1 version is priced at $1,099.