The Story behind eufyMake E1

When we first started working on eufyMake E1, our goal was simple: make a UV printer that anyone could use.

That idea came from spending time around maker communities in North America and Europe.

We saw a consistent problem: people loved creating things with 3D printers, laser cutters, and woodworking tools, but had no good way to add professional color or graphics to their projects. 

Hand painting was tedious, and industrial coloring tools were prohibitively expensive. This gap pushed us toward consumer UV printing.

Why This Was Different

Building a consumer UV printer sounded straightforward when we started.

Take industrial tech, make it smaller and cheaper. But we quickly discovered this wasn't the case. Consumer UV printing is very different from filament 3D printing.

A UV printer must print directly on finished objects. People want to print on metal, acrylic, glass, wood, leather and many other materials.

We kept asking practical questions. What will people actually print? How can one machine handle many different materials while staying precise and easy to use?

The $26,000 Monster in Our Office

We did what curious engineers do. We bought an industrial UV printer to see what was possible. It was a behemoth that cost over $26,000.

We were so excited that we literally took the door off our office to get it inside. But after all that work we discovered it could only print up to A3 size.

Not only was it massive and expensive, but it required professional installation, regular maintenance visits, and monthly service fees.

When we asked suppliers if smaller machines existed for regular consumers, their response was telling: "In our market, it's not about what you want, but about buying what we sell."

That's when we knew we had to build something different. We set three ambitious goals:

• It had to be 1/10 the size, light enough for one person to carry and small enough to fit on a desk.
• It had to be 10 times smarter and easier to use, making UV printing as simple as printing a photo
• It needed to cost only 1/10 of industrial machines.

From 2D to 3D

We planned our development in two distinct phases. The first phase (established in December 2023) focused on creating a personal UV printer with industrial grade capabilities.

In 2024, we attended trade shows where high end UV printers (machines costing tens of thousands of dollars) were demonstrating textured relief effects, primarily used for art reproduction. 

A thought came to mind: "Are we really just making something for flat surfaces?"

We ultimately decided to add 3D texture capabilities. But this came with a significant cost.

Four Engineering Problems Shaped E1

Desktop UV printers exist, but most are built for controlled environments and trained operators.

The aim for E1 was different. It needed to work in common spaces and to reduce manual adjustment as much as possible. 

As development continued, four problems influenced almost every part of the design. Solving them became the core of E1.

1. The Ink System Challenge

UV ink hardens when exposed to UV light. It is slightly corrosive and reacts with oxygen.

Our first approach used common tubes and pumps from industrial equipment. They leaked, hardened, and cracked after short periods.

We went through several pump options, but none one of them worked well enough for daily consumer use. 

After months of testing, we concluded we needed to design our own ink delivery system from scratch. This wasn't in our original plan and delayed the project, but there simply wasn't an existing solution that met our needs.

2. The Dual Laser Detection System

We wanted users to just put objects into the printer without having to tell the machine what material they were using.

This meant we needed a way for the printer to "see" what was placed in it.

The biggest problem came with transparent materials. We initially tried optical detection, but clear objects like glass or acrylic are nearly invisible to standard sensors. Light passes through them and bends, making height detection impossible with conventional methods.

But how could one system detect transparent and opaque objects, plus soft and hard materials simultaneously? Most sensors work well for one type but fail with others. 

After extensive testing, we developed a cross-type dual laser system with side-shooting light angled at a specific degree. This detection pattern successfully identified even completely clear objects. 

To maintain accuracy across the entire print bed, we created custom spherical rotating structures on both sides of the machine. These adjustable mounts allow for precise calibration of the laser angles.

While visually complex, this system provides stable, consistent detection across virtually all materials.

3. The Precision Movement Challenge

For professional results, we needed 30-micron accuracy (about 1/3 the width of a human hair). That's much more precise than typical consumer 3D printers that operate at around 400 microns.

The real difficulty came with bidirectional precision. In 2D printing, the print head moves in one direction. In 2.5D printing, the platform moves back and forth repeatedly, and we needed the same 30-micron accuracy in both directions.

Our Y-axis design went through several complete revisions. The initial X-axis design used a single-arm cantilever approach to save weight, but it wasn't stable enough.

We eventually used a one-piece die-cast metal component that required industrial manufacturing techniques. Each axis has a specific job:

• Z-axis: Measures height
• Y-axis: Moves forward and backward
• X-axis: Moves side to side

Getting these three axes to maintain perfect alignment while moving quickly was one of our biggest engineering challenges.

Also, raised texture printing usually depends on building many thin layers. A typical layer ranges from thirty to fifty microns.

To get five millimeters of height, more than one hundred layers are needed. Each layer prints as a separate image. The platform then moves and prints again. This is slow and uses a large amount of ink.

We developed two algorithms to solve this:

1. A 3D jetting algorithm that can build 1mm of height in a single pass, reducing the layers needed from 100+ to just 5 for a 5mm texture.
2. An improved RIP (Raster Image Processing) algorithm that uses the print head nozzles more efficiently, getting more output from each pass.

These algorithms drastically reduced printing time and ink consumption for textured prints, making the feature practical for everyday use.

4. The Modular Design Solution

In industrial settings, printing cups, phone cases, and water bottles all require different machines.

We achieved multi functionality in one machine through Y axis module replacement: keeping the upper frame structure, X axis movement, and ink path unchanged, while using different Y axis movement methods to accommodate different shaped materials.

The final product ecosystem consists of the main unit plus accessories. It is similar to a camera system where the body can be upgraded but accessories remain compatible.

What worth mentioning is: Rotary printing on objects like cups presents extremely high difficulty. Cup wheels with rubber rings can be unstable:

• Too much pressure: The object floats away from the wheel
• Too little pressure: Slipping occurs
• Hard materials: Risk of surface damage
• Soft materials: Need special adhesive treatment

Eventually, we expanded our printing capabilities to objects we hadn't initially considered.

For example, tea sets and drones are things we hadn't thought about before, but now we can print on them.

Looking ahead

Since the launch of eufyMake E1, the response has been stronger than expected. Seeing people excited about the printer confirmed that there is a real need for accessible UV printing.

At the same time, more competitors are noticing the market. That means things will get more intense. More competition pushes everyone to improve, and it also shows that the market is growing and products can become more mature.

We are still happy and confident in what we built, but we also know there is more to do. Customers will begin receiving their printers soon.

The upcoming period will be the real test because daily use always reveals details that laboratory testing cannot.

There is both excitement and pressure around this stage. Functions will keep being refined, and we are preparing for any issues users might run into.