Building and creating my own creations has always been a fault of mine. Most of the creations were built from wood or scrapes of whatever was laying around. But then came 3D printers, the ability to print almost anything you could draw. A dream come true!?
A couple of years ago I purchased one of the first 3D printers (MakerBot) for myself and my stepson for Christmas. It took a couple of weeks to put together and align. Then came printing. Nothing ever printed as well as photos online. We spend MONTHS playing with alignments and settings, never quite right. So after two years, I gave up. Decided to try a new less expensive printer the Solidoodle.
When I ordered, a note said 4-8 weeks. Little did I know that it was really 6 months or more. Ordered September 2012, received February 2013. But in all honesty, while waiting for my Solidoodle 2, the Solidoodle 3 came out. An impressive 8 x 8 print area and only $100 additional, I was in.
Figured with all the talk of ease of printing and the nice metal case, it would be a plug and play operation. It would be aligned at the factory and shipped ready to use to your home.
Boy was I wrong. Plus the more play with it the more I see it is by no means a better printer. The print head break easily. If you run out of filament mid print, you have to take apart the print head, risking breaking it (Keep a few on hand!!!)
The software seems nicer than the MakerBots, but since I am yet to be able to print anything it is difficult to say.
Over the next few months I will continue my efforts and report my findings to this blog.
~David