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Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Sorry to hear you lost your job, and thanks for sharing what's happening.

Solinonymous wrote:

Former Solidoodle employee here, saw this thread and felt compelled to let everyone know what's going on - at least as far as I know, since Solidoodle doesn't say anything unless it's good news. You guys have pretty much figured it out though, Solidoodle is out of cash.

It started with the Press, which without getting into too much detail, was/is a complete disaster. Production tapped out most of our funds and the port delays meant that we weren't able to re-coup those costs as quickly as we needed. Plus, the Press pre-order campaign meant that we were pretty much shipping the printers at a net loss.

Around this time they started sporadically missing payroll here and there, but there was talk about bringing in investors so I figured we would tough it out until the round closed and once we had some operating capital we'd be able to recover. Well we closed the round, hooray! I see another poster did some digging and noticed that we refiled as a C-corp, this was part of finalizing the investment.

Turns out most of the funding was used to pay off debts and it wasn't long before the prospect of missing payroll again became a reality. Last month they called a company meeting and laid off pretty much everyone (myself included) except for those with shares and the accounting department (who were put on part-time).

Obviously there's a whole lot more to the story but the bottom line is that things don't look good. If you have an unfulfilled order, unfortunately, I wouldn't get my hopes up.  If you're looking for a refund, I would start exploring other avenues to recoup (bank, credit card, etc) because there isn't any money there, and even if there was, refunds are not very high up on the list of priorities. Spare part orders are a craps shoot depending on the part.

So that's that. I wish I came here bearing better tidings but that's the truth. I love the community here at Soliforum and it was frustrating that we weren't allowed to share with you all the realities of the situation, so I figured it was the least I could do.

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Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Sorry to hear this news sad

Soliforum won't be changing though, we are still going to be a general 3d printing forum and we can always add sections for any more new/exicting 3d printers, or for printers which need a good support group like us! smile

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Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

It would be a good idea for someone to start backing up any and all documents and downloads from the solidoodle site just in case.

Solidoodle Workbench Apprentice
M5 replacement z-axis rod, PEI bed

54

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

I've just set HTTrack on the case.

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Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Elmoret, after its done I can mirror it on soliforum if you want. Or at least the important downloads.

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Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Glad to see you back, Brad!

I chose Solidoodle based on the 2013-aged Soliforum, and I have quickly realized this truly is a 3D printing community. I hope SD recovers for the sake of their employees and users (especially new), but I know that they can easily turn here for guidance, support, and understanding.

Printit Mason and Printit Horizon printers
Multiple SD2s- Bulldog XL, E3D v5/v6/Lite6, Volcano, Hobb Goblin, Titan, .9 motor, Lawsy carriages, direct Y drive, fishing line...the list goes on
Filawinder and Filastruder #1870.....worth every penny!

57 (edited by knowack 2015-10-30 04:48:01)

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Solinonymous, thanks for sharing.  Sorry about your job, and I hope things work out for you.

I have to say that I love my SD4; not so much Solidoodle.  I bought the SD4, knowing that I was essentially purchasing a pre-assembled open-source printer...which is exactly what I wanted. 

I've made some tweaks and improvements on the SD4 over the last (almost) two years, and I'm consistently getting outstanding results.  I think my prints look better than 90% of the stuff on Thingiverse. 

I owe most of that success to this forum; it has been a Godsend. (Thanks Brad!)  That's part of the reason I contribute to the Christmas giveaway each year: to give back to the community that has been so much help.  Thank you all.

I certainly hope Solidoodle can pull out of the death spiral, and return to their roots.  Perhaps something along the lines of an improved SD4.

58 (edited by n2ri 2015-10-30 08:04:04)

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

I agree 100% with the posts here. best way Solidoodle can maybe grab a lifeline and climb out of that quick sand pit called China is cut all ties and go back to their old Brooklyn basic frame printers and maybe try mod upgrade kits for buyers to build their printers to their needed specs as money allows after getting started. thats a niche no other 3D printer manufacturer has done yet. and no China required. every USA company I have seen that went China faded away within a couple years and China made cheap clones of their products after. I have warnned companies of this for years but they never listen. they think China has to comply with trade laws in the USA. NOPE! be better off partnering with Mr Haney off the old TV series Green Acres or Boss Hog off dukes of hazard. least money lost stays in the USA. LOL

Solidoodle 2 with Deluxe kit cover & glass bed with heater. and 2nd board SD2 used not 3rd and alum platform not installed yet still wood. also need cooling fan installed to board. use Repetier Host couple vers. Slic3r also have all free ware STL programs

59 (edited by jagowilson 2015-10-30 15:38:17)

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Solinonymous wrote:

...bad news...

Just wanted to send a Thank You for posting this and keeping everyone updated where Solidoodle has refused to do so. Despite the likely collapse of the Solidoodle company, this will always be a great community for sharing information about 3D printers and related technology. I'm glad I got a Solidoodle when I did, because at that time they were at the top of their game for the most part, with fast deliveries and quick support responses (even if not always helpful). I don't think I'd know as much about 3D printers now if my Solidoodle hadn't put me through the struggle.

It's really unfortunate that Solidoodle destroyed themselves by trying to pander to the extreme novice user base. If Solidoodle had been paying attention to this community more closely, they would have realized that for the most part, everyone here is an engineer or maker of some sort. Look at the Press forum now compared to what it was many months ago... most of the users have disappeared and will never contribute to this community, which is part of the reason why aiming at the pure novice is doomed to failure. We don't have many drifters outside of the maker realm here, and even if Solidoodle corrected its current course and got back in business, we never will because Solidoodle has never been a name for the novice, and that's the way it will always remain. Reputation is hard to shake, but let's face it--if you're willing to put in some hours to fix the thing, there aren't any machines better than a Solidoodle at the given price point.

60 (edited by pirvan 2015-10-30 15:46:31)

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

jagowilson wrote:

Look at the Press forum now compared to what it was many months ago... most of the users have disappeared and will never contribute to this community, which is part of the reason why aiming at the pure novice is doomed to failure.

Pure Novice.
I think the better description would be the "plug-n-play" crowd. 

We were all novices at one time or another, but once we understood that this is not a plug-n-play device like an HP printer, we were willing to work around, or fix the shortcomings, and improve on it.

So, we stuck with it.  But there's a lot of people that won't.  They buy into the hype, they dip their toe in the waters, and when they find out that it takes some work to achieve any results, they abandon it.  There's another name for them as well, the "instant gratification crowd".

To print or, 3D print, that is the question...
SD3 printer w/too many mods,  Printrbot Simple Maker Ed.,  FormLabs Form 1+
AnyCubic Photon, Shining 3D EinScan-S & Atlas 3D scanners...
...and too much time on my hands.

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Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

yep, exactly.

62 (edited by mdrVB6 2015-10-30 18:28:05)

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Agreed, it will be too bad if/ when solidoodle goes under.  But not entirely unexpected with how they completely over promised and under delivered on the press.  The claimed it would be plug-n-play, then delivered a gimmicky hunk of Chinese plastic with non functional probes and wire looms that get stuck on other moving parts.  And they made people wait months for these inferior machines.  I'm glad I canceled mine.  Heck, they even eliminated the most universally praised part of their old designs, the robust metal frames.  I think there will continue to be a good market for SD2 and 3's on ebay because as long as you have the frame and Z axis in tact, everything else can be rebuilt with higher quality parts and you do end up getting a nice printer if you have the patience to spend a couple hundred hours of your life browsing this site and learning about the machine.  So I'm thankful for the learning opportunity, even though it was frustrating at times.  I have done two complete printer builds from scratch (including parts sourcing) with the knowledge I gained from starting with my solidoodle 2.  My next printer will either be the aforementioned SD3 if I can find a deal, or the Big Box after it has been out a few months and the reviews start coming out.

SD4 w/ RUMBA, E3D Volcano, all bearings, glass bed

63

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Solidoodle let me get in to 3D printing by making the first assembled printer under $1000.  The Solidoodle 1 was $700 with a 4"x4" build space.  I didn't know what exactly I would use a 3D printer for, but I had been wanting one for a couple of years, and at $700 I could sell a few things from a hobby that had fallen to the wayside to fund a new one.  My printer was one of these, in Sam's living room, Serial #6-

http://soliforum.com/i/?GgGfgWr.jpg

http://soliforum.com/i/?TxMjVul.jpg

There wasn't even a way to level the build plate, I had to shim it in the corners with stacks of tape in varying numbers of layers.  I had to change the 3mm acrylic plate to 10mm because it tended to warp.  The print quality was still better than the SD2 however, due to the geared stepper on the extruder.  Support was good, Sam stayed on chat with me until 1am PST to get it running which is easy enough when you only have 6 printers in the wild.

The SD1 developed a skip probably caused by a bent drive rod, which as you can see from the picture was hidden behind a wooden inner frame and would have required a complete tear-down to get to.  Since it was just before the SD2 announcement in April, Sam said to send it back and they would swap it for an SD2 which was great, but I ended up waiting 3 months without a printer.  Somehow they didn't expect a $500 printer to generate thousands of orders, despite Printrbot raising $800k on Kickstarter a few months before.  My SD2 was also Serial #6, coincidentally.

They suddenly had to move the operation out of Sam's kitchen into a proper factory as quickly as possible, resulting in delays up to 20 weeks until things smoothed out by the following Feb.  I was impressed that they managed to make that transition, it's a shame that the next big transition of moving some manufacturing overseas did them in.  It always seemed like a fairly scrappy operation.  I visited the factory last year, and it couldn't have been more than about 3000-4000 sqft, including offices.  The shipping department was a guy in a corner with some shelves of packing supplies, so I can believe the complaints of slow and mixed up shipping.  They still had my SD1 under a table in the office, said they didn't sell more than a couple dozen of them. 

As others have said, the printer's shortcomings made for a great education in 3D printing.  By the end of my SD2's life, I had replaced the electronics, upgraded the stepper drivers, put a higher torque stepper on Y, a 400-step motor on the extruder, added Lawsy's extruder and linear bearing carriages, replaced the belts with fishing line, changed the Z axis to 2n2r's threadless ballscrew, replaced the hotend with an E3D, replaced the firmware with Repetier to support a Viki LCD, and built an enclosure that I could heat using a mini space heater and some flexible ducting.  I never did manage to get the Y backlash to go away consistently.

I eventually bought an Ordbot kit, which was only a frame and steppers.  It had no instructions and was bring-your-own extruder, hot end, and electronics which I could do with confidence thanks to my experience with the Solidoodle.

They always had the goal of making printers affordable for everyone, and were the first to hit the $500 price for a non-kit printer.  Unfortunately it was always through cutting corners rather than innovation.  They were always behind the times and didn't seem to be very aware of trends in the open-source DIY side of things.  To be fair, when you are mass producing products that need to be supported, you have to be conservative.  New Matter seems to have achieved with the Mod-T what Solidoodle could not.  They have a $400 printer with a consumer product aesthetic that uses dc motors with encoders instead of steppers.  It knows if it skips steps, and can level the bed by moving the nozzle in XY and sensing if it drags on the surface.  It remains to be seen if it is reliable, but for now it is hitting a low price while using technology that makes it potentially more plug and play than its competitors.

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Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Speaking of open source-the one request I would make of the company if it is clearly going under never to heard from again, PLEASE release the files for the 3d printed parts of your printers! If we are not going to be able to buy these parts, at least let us print them ourselves.

Solidoodle 4-Mostly stock running off headless Raspberry Pi with Octoprint

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Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Morganism wrote:

Speaking of open source-the one request I would make of the company if it is clearly going under never to heard from again, PLEASE release the files for the 3d printed parts of your printers! If we are not going to be able to buy these parts, at least let us print them ourselves.

Currently, I am printing the Geeetech My Creator.stl files for the components. Kinda eerie, a self duplicating robot of sorts.
Anyway, they are coming out nice. I think they could be used on the SD3, report to follow...

66

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Oh, yeah...and GeeeTech answers their email really promptly....from China even....

67

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

That's a really great post Ian.

Although I got in the game later (my first introduction to Solidoodle was buying an SD2 from eBay), using the Solidoodle drove me to create the Filastruder. At this point I've printed over $10,000 worth of hoppers on my Solidoodle(s), at one point I had 3 running to keep up with Kickstarter fulfillment. Their printers have been workhorses for me, and I'm bummed to see what looks to be the beginning of the end.

68

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Sad but not surprised. I came on board after purchasing a used SD 4 off e-bay.  I came with no power supply and not knowing better at the time immediately placed an online order with SD for a replacement . the response was quick and had the new one in IIRC about 3 days. A little online research and some help from friends local and here  I was off and running.
Shorly after that IIRC Aug last year SD announced the new product line and the end of production of the SD3.

I was a bit tempted by the preproduction deal on the press. A brand new printer at like 50% discount.
So why did  I not leap. ??
1) I did not totally believe it would truly be plug and play.
2) I like the idea of self help and upgradable 3d printers.
3) I did not feel I had the cash to put out for a pinter i would not see for  4-6  Months.

I was concerned for the future of sd at the time . The  press project was a huge leap sideways. Then at the same time sam  introduces the workbench and the apprentice.   Along with 3 new product at the same time he has a team developing a new printer software from scratch.  This was at the very least a bold if not foolish move.

And now he has broken the public trust by taking prepaid orders and not shipping the goods.

I hop he can find his roots, remember his successes and failures concentrate on what works for him  and continue the busness. .
Tin

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

69

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

In the future, always pay with credit card/pay pal. They can order a charge back to your account. I'd say credit card company has more power than paypal even.

70

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

I just got my solidoodle workbench a few weeks ago because I threatened to use my bank to get my money back. And I can say I was used to makerbots easy software so this all was new to me. But after a few weeks I got it mostly figured out. I knew it would be a challenge and I also got a new glass build plate since the one that came with the printer was broken.

So if the company goes under is there another place we can get replacement parts? Like if my cables and motors as well as sensors go out?

71 (edited by mdrVB6 2015-11-02 13:31:59)

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

ruthlessfx wrote:

So if the company goes under is there another place we can get replacement parts? Like if my cables and motors as well as sensors go out?

This forum will likely remain the best source of support for your printer.  Motors and sensors can be sourced from multiple places, just ask here.

Morganism wrote:

Speaking of open source-the one request I would make of the company if it is clearly going under never to heard from again, PLEASE release the files for the 3d printed parts of your printers! If we are not going to be able to buy these parts, at least let us print them ourselves.

Literally every printed part of the solidoodle has been improved upon by this community and most of these improvements can be found on thingiverse and these forums.  If you are looking for something, just search those and then ask if you don't find it.  At least one person has reverse engineered the solidoodle and posted the stock parts on thingiverse if you for some reason don't want the better parts this community has come up with.

SD4 w/ RUMBA, E3D Volcano, all bearings, glass bed

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Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Solinonymous - thank you for the information and I hope you are able to find work soon. 

It is sad to learn that a business that started out decently has gone so far downhill, simply from trying to grow too fast. Trying to offer multiple new products all at once is never a good idea for a relatively small business.

Like many others here, our first printer was a used one - a Solidoodle 4 model. Have learned a lot about it, and 3D printing in general, from this fantastic forum. We have since added another SD4 (also used) and built a couple of kit printers. Thinking very seriously of trying to build a larger platform version from scratch... something along the lines of the Workbench in size...
Solidoodle has a good basic design - but just a few tweaks make it a great machine.

@ ruthlessfx - there are a ton of resources for finding replacement motors, cables, belts and other items for 3d printers - Google is your friend, as are the knowledgeable folks here.

About the only things that may not be so easily available are the plastic carriage parts, and even then, there are usually those that can, or have, reverse engineered those items and created new/better parts that can be printed out and used instead.

Case in point: the Lawsy carriages for the earlier SD models - far superior to the "factory" parts in that they utilize linear bearings instead of bushings, making carriage movement much smoother (may possibly work for the workbench?). I have these carriages on both of my SD4s and I am very grateful for the time spent by Lawsy to create these printable carriages and that he chose to share them with all of us.

SD4 #1 & #2 - Lawsy carriages, E3D v6, Rumba controller board, mirror bed plate, X motor fan, upgraded PSU & Mica bed heater
SD4 #3 - in the works ~ Folgertech FT-5, rev 1
Printit Industries Beta Tester - Horizon H1

73

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

diyengineer wrote:

In the future, always pay with credit card/pay pal. They can order a charge back to your account. I'd say credit card company has more power than paypal even.

I have friends that use their credit card thru PayPal for just a situation as this....double protected....

74

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Careful, paypal will not be happy if you submit a chargeback against them and you could lose your paypal account.

75

Re: Question about the Solidoodle company

Brad wrote:

Careful, paypal will not be happy if you submit a chargeback against them and you could lose your paypal account.

Correct, but on a $800 order, it might be worth it to create another account...