1 Topic by Mysterio

  • Mysterio
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Topic: Solidoodle Press - Should I bother raising from the dead in 2022?

Hi.  I see that nobody has posted in the Solidoodle Press subforum for a few years so I might not get any replies but I'll give it a shot...

So I got a Press when they first came out and had the same problems most people had... I guess maybe slightly better results than some, but I still had lots of prints that went wrong before they finished up, I never could get it to print PLA, and I recall trying to print a few marble-run pieces for my daughter that always ended up warped.  I didn't have any real NEED for a 3D printer, it was just a novelty and learning opportunity, and after messing around with it for a while I just shelved it and went on to other things.

This year my daughter, now much older, is involved in a rocketry club with some of her friends at school and I thought I might break out the Press and see if I could get it working at all in case they wanted to print a few parts.  My question to whomever might still be around is, should I bother?  Did the community ever work out "best practices" tweaks to improve performance, and are there any upgrades I should make that are worth the money vs. just putting that towards another printer?  I'm definitely trying to read through the forum and see how things evolved but I've got several years worth of things to go through so I thought I'd toss this out and see if anyone had any thoughts.  Is replacing the hot end and/or extruder a no brainer in 2022?  Any software I should look into besides the old soliprint program?  Chuck the whole thing and move on?  I'd like to get some use out of it but man it was frustrating back then.

Thanks for your help!  I hope everyone's been doing well.

2 Reply by Tin Falcon (edited by Tin Falcon 2022-07-16 10:18:31)

  • Tin Falcon
  • Tin Falcon
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Re: Solidoodle Press - Should I bother raising from the dead in 2022?

OMHO likely not worth the time and effort.
A lot has changed in technology in the past few years.
The press was designed to be a plug and play appliance not designed to be upgraded.
Get a Creality ender 3 or even better a genuine prusa and run prusa slicer or super slicer. Or if you prefer a box style there are several good import options as well, Just do your homework as the market is pretty much flooded with cheap printer like objects.

As far as the old printer you may want to save the motors with cabling , the end stops and any other usable parts. Part it out an trash the case. donating the whole thing would be cruel and unusual punishment to an unwary recipient.

Soliddoodle 4 stock w glass bed------Folger Tech Prusa 2020 upgraded to and titan /aero extruder mirror bed
FT5 with titan/ E3D Aero------MP mini select w glass bed
MP Utimate maker pro-W bondtech extruder
Marlin/Repetier Host/ Slic3r and Cura

3 Reply by Mysterio

  • Mysterio
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Re: Solidoodle Press - Should I bother raising from the dead in 2022?

Thanks for the feedback!  That's somewhat disappointing because it's just my nature to try to get the most out of things I've already paid for, but I end up just making more work for myself in the long run...  Appreciate the info!