SnowX, based in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, has put up a Kickstarter pre-launch page for the SnowPod, a laser powder bed fusion machine sized for a desk rather than a factory floor. The campaign itself is scheduled for Q4 2026; right now the page only takes sign-ups for a launch notification.
The machine measures 360 x 360 x 660 mm and builds an 80 x 80 x 100 mm volume in 316L stainless steel, with a 40 μm laser spot, 30 to 60 μm adjustable layer thickness, and 3 μm Z-axis precision. Powder loads through sealed swappable cartridges, and SnowX claims about 90 percent recovery of unused powder, varying with part geometry. Sensors track PM2.5, gas concentration, temperature and humidity, and interlocks keep the chamber sealed until conditions clear. A companion product, the NitroPod, pulls nitrogen from ambient air to feed the machine rather than relying on bottled gas. Supports are designed to peel off in one motion, which SnowX describes as “zipper”-like removal. The company’s own SnowPath software handles slicing and job submission, and a built-in camera feeds AI-based anomaly detection from the first layer.
The pitch, cheap enclosed LPBF for jewelry, artwork and prototypes rather than industrial production, isn’t new. Metal-Base’s Metal 1.0 pre-launched on Kickstarter with the same combination of sealed chamber, interlocks and optional nitrogen generation, but disclosed sub-€10,000 pricing before its campaign and runs open Klipper/OrcaSlicer rather than proprietary software. Scrap Labs’ Scrap 1 undercuts both on build volume specifics with a similarly sized 100 x 100 x 100 mm chamber and HEPA filtration, and is already taking direct pre-orders from $9,600 with early-2027 shipping.
SnowX has not published a price, a ship date, or laser power, so the SnowPod can’t be measured against either competitor’s cost per cubic millimeter yet.