Solidoodle 2 Announced

Readers may recall the original Solidoodle 3D printer. Now you can buy the Solidoodle 2, an improved version for sale at a price under USD$500. The new 3D printer's price is its most amazing feature. At USD$499, that's pretty much the lowest you can spend to buy a pre-assembled personal 3D printer that really works. 

 

While that price is low, we'd opt for the slightly higher priced Pro Model for an additional USD$50, which includes a heated build platform, a spool for plastic filament and lighting for the build chamber. If you happen to have another USD$50 in your wallet or purse, you might consider buying the USD$599 Expert Model, which includes a metal case and clear acrylic door. 

 

The Solidoodle 2 uses 1.75mm ABS filament, but apparently you can also use PLA plastic in its 6x6x6 inch (15x15x15 cm) build envelope. The recommended print resolution is an average 0.3mm, but they say 0.1mm is also possible for high resolution prints. 

 

Regardless of specs, this is indeed a breakthrough. For the first time non-technical folks can buy their own personal 3D printer for less than USD$500. Well done, Solidoodle! 

 

Via Solidoodle

More on the Solidoodle 3D Printer

After yesterday's post on the new Solidoodle 3D printer, we spoke with team leader Sam Cervantes, who answered some key questions were pondering. 

 

Fabbaloo: Why another 3D printer? Aren't there several for sale already? What makes Solidoodle different?

  

Sam Cervantes: Some people love to put complicated machines together and that's great - it's a fun experience and I highly recommend it. If you like building electro-mechanical machines as much as you like to print, then I recommend you check out a MakerGear Mosaic or a MakerBot Thingomatic, which are both great machines. The Solidoodle 3D Printer is for people who just want to print, and don't have the time and/or desire to build a machine. The Solidoodle 3D Printer works reliably right out of the box with no assembly required. In addition, the Solidoodle is a compact fully enclosed design that makes it a bit more suited to the desktop.

 

Fabbaloo: The USD$699 price is "introductory". What will the final price be?

 

Sam Cervantes: We'll let you know... ;)

 

Fabbaloo: What software should be used with the Solidoodle?

 

Sam Cervantes: We love Kliment's Pronterface software to run the printer, based on it's reliability and simple graphical interface. The Solidoodle 3D Printer also works with Repsnapper. To convert solid 3D models (e.g. STL files) to machine code we use skeinforge, which is made all the more simple by a special profile that we provide.

 

Fabbaloo: Can PLA be used? 

 

Sam Cervantes: Yes, you can use PLA! It's a great renewable material.

 

Via Solidoodle

The Solidoodle 3D Printer

Yet another inexpensive 3D printer has emerged: the Solidoodle. The amusingly named device is unique because it is, as far as we can tell, the only fully assembled personal 3D printer currently available at a price under USD$1000: their price is only USD$699. But that's their introductory price. The final price is no doubt a tad higher, and we'll be seeking more information from Solidoodle on that. 

 

The device has a mostly enclosed metal build chamber of size 10x10x10cm and uses the increasingly popular 1.75mm ABS plastic filament size. It's actually based on the RepRap design, as are many competing models. 

 

We haven't seen output from this device yet, but with the 1.75mm filament, a 0.35mm extruder nozzle and a stepper motor-powered extruder, the quality is likely there. Another feature we like is that the build platform moves only up and down on the Z-axis, reducing the risk of tipping over tall prints. 

 

If you want one of these, you'll have to place an order and get into the batch sequence. They're intending on making 20 units in the first batch, probably more in subsequent runs.   Orders should be fulfilled in 4 weeks or so. 

 

Via Solidoodle