RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
For all we know this could well be out of Prusa's control... currently this may well be all that Bondtech are willing to offer Prusa.
I would not expect any restrictions from Bondtech -- selling Core One with INDX pre-installed would mean more INDX sales overall, which must be in their interest. But Prusa might have reservations, since it would also mean selling less Nextruders (at good margins) in favor of INDX extruders (at lower margins, being an OEM product).
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
When I say 'willing to offer', maybe that's just right now... if Bondtech are already at capacity wrt to production, they too might have reservations about ramping up too quickly. My understanding is they want to outsource as little as possible, so they can keep a much closer eye on QA.
At the minute its all hypothesis...I doubt we're likely to find out the details any time soon.
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
Looking at Bondtechs video on the print head board and Prusa's most recent video, it's clear they've made the decision to manufacture and design the Prusa version in house. Makes sense as Bondtech had noted Klipper as their primary focus for development when they initially announced INDX. Based on that, I do wonder would Prusa bring more manufacture of INDX parts in house over time to increase output and ultimately they have just licensed the tech from Bondtech
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
Looking at Bondtechs video on the print head board and Prusa's most recent video, it's clear they've made the decision to manufacture and design the Prusa version in house.
I could not glean much from the video about who designed and who manufactured what. It seems that the "generic version" and the "Prusa version" of the INDX print head use different PCBs, which makes sense for compatibility with Prusa's existing xBuddy board and cable harness. Given that they had a Prusa engineer show off the rigid/flex PCB, I would guess that this part was designed by Prusa, but the rest by Bondtech.
But that does not tell us who will manufacture what, does it? That's a purely commercial decision, which I assume has been made long ago as part of the negotiations. Making and selling the complete extruders means higher margins for Bondtech and more jobs in Värnamo -- so I assume they had a keen interest in that model, and probably a good bargaining position.
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
That’s fair, I’m making assumptions as Prusa has the ability to make boards in house where as Bondtech noted they partnered with Duet3d to design the kit version. I know there was a bunch of tours of Bondtech’s facilities up on YouTube last year when indx was announced. Might just have a look again but I can’t remember if they had much in the way to mass produce pcbs. I remember a lot of tooling equipment for mechanical parts mostly. Good chance I skipped through it at the time though, so could be wrong
RE:
It is very common to outsource PCB production. I am not even sure whether Prusa does that in-house? They might, since they seem to have a liking for inhouse production (e.g. injection molding).
For PCBs in production quantities, outsourcing will make economical sense in many cases. It's easy to plan ahead, and the manufacturing processes are well-controlled, highly automated, and predictable. Having small-scale facilities in house to make prototypes may be the more compelling case.
For electronics development, it seems that Bondtech works with an external partner, while Prusa does this in-house. I am not that impressed with Prusa's design capabilities though; quite a few problems in the printers seem to stem from electronics design issues. (Displays only operating at slowed-down rates; nozzle heaters cross-talking into load cell sensing; static discharges crashing the printer. Hmm -- maybe they are alright at PCB design but bad at considering the wiring?)
RE:
It is very common to outsource PCB production. I am not even sure whether Prusa does that in-house? They might, since they seem to have a liking for inhouse production (e.g. injection molding).
Prusa manufacture in house. They have their own SMT line where they make to electronic components / boards.
It's shown in their video at about 2 mins 50 secs.
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
Thanks!
"We are big fans of self-suffiency and we wanted to produce as many components in-house as possible."
Makes sense when you come from a RepRap background, I guess. Maybe not so much otherwise.
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
Maybe they could stay competive on pricing if they outsourced more. I don't think QA would suffer. Perhaps it would even improve.
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
I thought we were going to be able to pre-order the next batch by this point. Then again, I also was hoping to get the Founders Edition.
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
Then again, I also was hoping to get the Founders Edition.
Those of us who made a down-payment for the Founders Edition are hoping the same...
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
I hope we can order the Founders Edition the first batch went fast and I missed it.
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
No, the Founders Edition was a limited batch size. It would not make sense to re-open that for additional orders. I would assume that Bondtech and/or Prusa will start taking orders for the "regular edition" once they start actually shipping the Founders Edition units.
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
What do those who got the Founders Edition receive that everyone else won't; unless Prusa or Bondtech decide to throw it in ?
RE: (Currently) Unanswered Questions
Purchasers of the Founders Edition get a T-shirt, maybe a slightly better price, and the privilege to do field testing.
@butters, this is a forum, not live chat. If you have multiple questions about something, please take the time to write them down in a single, structured post. Then someone can take the time to write a single, structured answer.