M2 Kit Sales To Pause

[sprior]

I enjoyed building my M2 as a kit so much I've now purchased an X-Carve CNC as a kit and I'm looking forward to building it (couldn't convince Rick to get into the CNC market).

There's one interesting point about kit part philosophy - Makergear is VERY generous with extra/spare parts which is great, but you can't go by the "when you're out of loose parts on the table it's done" approach. Inventables apparently has a "you get the exact number of parts you need" approach, but of course that means you go shopping if you lose a washer or screw. Some people aren't comfortable either way. I think the only approach that really fixes both problems is to include some extra parts, but put them in their own bag labeled "spare parts", but of course that's more work for the company selling the kits.

[lem]

I've now purchased an X-Carve CNC as a kit

I have one. Enjoy.

And as to the thread - I want an M2 kit - not in a hurry - I can wait.

[sprior]

If I remember correctly the X-Carve kit only covers 2/3 of the work table with parts whereas the M2 kit covered the whole thing - lots more screws.

[insta]

Inventables apparently has a "you get the exact number of parts you need" approach, but of course that means you go shopping if you lose a washer or screw.

Or if they package M4x10 screws in the bag of M5x10 screws. whoops.

[jpod]

Well, as a data point, I watched Makergear for a while before buying (about a year). I waffled on buying an kit, I thought I would enjoy building it, and was confident I could do so competently. Usually I prefer to do so because I feel I have a greater attention to detail than most people doing the assembly work would. The main reasons a held off were the cost to ship and the long wait time honestly (I waited a year due to a month lead time haha). When I was about ready to pull the trigger is when the kits went away. I bought a fully assembled unit instead, and was very happy to have it arrrive quickly. It arrived within a week and I was printing the same day. My M2 has worked perfectly since and I absolutely love it. Worth every penny for the fully assembled unit. This is my 3rd fdm printer, and so mucher nicer than the other two.

So if anyone is waiting for kits to come back, I'd recommend they just pull the trigger. You won't regret it. I also think it was the right decision for Makergear to focus on expediency of delivering units and lower support load vs catering to people like me