I guess it just goes to show... something. I tweaked my settings, mostly in Slicer and now I'm getting some pretty sweet prints, better than ever in fact. I'll be reluctant to tear it down to install the E3D, its running so good.

yup, most of these machines, if its not a mechanical or electrical issue (which are easy to see), its all in the software. no need to get upset with the machine when its a software setting you have done wrong .

they need to put a disclaimer on the website to warn people that SISO (stupid in stupid out) applies to all 3d printers as it does to all computers. hahaha

EDIT: also, WE DO NOT NEED A STEVE JOBS OF 3D PRINTING! you realize how zealously closed source all of apple products are? if 3d printing goes the way of apple we'll be having $150 .5 KG rolls of filament with microchips that only let the printer work with that filament, and dont allow reloads. and you will see a proprietary 3d file format you can only get from the iPrint online store, so you can only print what they say you can print. if we get a steve jobs of 3d printing, i will be assassinating him with my 3d printed ar-15! (joke, all you P-C retards)

Apparently I am not intimidated by exposed circuit boards, loose wiring running everywhere, gears, belts and pulleys without guards, sharp angle iron, ABS fumes, acetone, razor blades, smoking hot stepper motors/bed/extruder.

I had a pretty serious host PC hooked up to it to start with, now I just have an old XP laptop there that I remote into.

Filament-stepper-motor-extruders are not the pioneering of 3d printing. They are the garage hacker versions of it, that will not get any better than it is.

These: http://gigaom.com/2013/07/24/four-3d-pr … -makerbot/ are mature technologies. They use real engineering to control process variables to achieve desired results.

If you want the FFF version to mature, the hardware needs to be on a much higher level (laser cut or stamped stainless steel, real linear bearing, acme/ball screws) and the physical control of the filament must be done much better. You MUST measure the variables to get consistent results. For starters, using a true servo and using its torque feedback along with a laser sensor to constantly measure the diameter of the filament is just the beginning.

And we have yet to talk about the firmware, which is a 'for dummies' developing IDE being processed to the manufacturers 'C' down to the assembly which is then being run on an 8 bit processor.

A mature FFF would drive the cost way beyond what you would imagine.

SD, it is disheartening to hear you respond that I have recourse with the other vendors and telling me to take up my issues with them, while not mentioning the issues I have with Solidoodle quality. See, most folks would have taken that bull by the horns. You ducked.

when you can't get sketchup to work do you complain to microsoft, or do you complain to google?

that's what it's like, with the slicing you have an issue with slicer, it's a 3rd party piece of software,

when you have an issue with sketchup you should be seeking support from google (because they make sketchup, not complaining about windows or complaining about Dell because they made the machine that won't run the software)

because the part is weak, this has been the case since people got their Solidoodle 2 machines, most people have replaced the parts. there has been advice about this available in both this forum and the google groups support place for around a year now! (since before the solidoodle 3 was made)

what heater did you get, Nichrome wound resistor (the one that looks like a blob) or resistor in a a block heater (the one that is square)? both have weaknesses that are well discussed. I agree it bites that people are telling you to upgrade etc, but the aftermarket heaters are (in a lot of cases) a lot better than the stock ones.

perhaps if you consider the parts "after market part" that will improve performance rather than "replacements for pretty weak parts" then you'd be happier about changing your machine?

you spent small money on a precision CNC CAM setup.

how well would you expect an $800 car to drive? that's the sort of thing we're talking about. you can't spend banger money and expect a Ferrari.
($800 is a lot of money to me, but you have to be realistic)

well the machine only prints what it's told to print. this MUST be an issue with either your design or your design software or your slicing software.

if it's being made in the air then it suggests that rather than starting your model at z=0 you've started it at z=10 basically, in sketchup there is a ground (the space between the blue and red axis if I remember correctly) you've been making your models in the air.
therefore they've been printing in the air.

as for the plugins, Solidoodle make printers, why should they be aware of all the plugins for Sketchup?, These plugins are completely unrelated to the solidoodle machine usually made by third party companies for a 3rd party product.

netfab won't move your floating object to the ground.

as for the question, why does Netfab break my design.

Seriously? ask netfabb!

(again when you can't a program to work do you complain to dell because they made the computer?)

you buy a printer that you know nothing about to hopefully start a business in an industry that you know nothing about.
seemingly you did no research and were just tempted by the cheaper than chips price tag.

you then complain to the manufacturer of a machine because you can't work software made by google, and you can't work the slicing software made by a community effort to give away free software -but again you ask a 3rd party hardware manufacturer rather than seeking support from the manufacturer of the software that you cant' work.

then you can't work netfab, a free tool that you've clearly obtained from netfabb.com that's made by the company netfabb... and when you can't work it you complain once again to, some completely unrelated 3rd party hardware manufacturer.

then you come to a community support website, where people offer their advice for free, and refer to anyone who has any more ideas that you as geeks and grey beards. I thought you were a professional, isn't this your business? -using 3d printing for rapid prototyping. shouldn't you be a bit more clued up than you are?!

really? you think Steve jobs needs to come and save the day?
you do understand that Steve jobs stole most of apples "innovations"
as for the Chinese doing better, really? show me, I don't know of any Chinese 3d printing machines.

one last thing, creo elements is the free version of creo.

as far as I can tell the only real difference is that export options are a bit more limited.

Rant alert.

I have invested several hundred dollars and probably two or three hundred hours in this 3D printing endeavor. Nothing works as it should. SketchUp crashes if you look at it wrong or, dare I say, Move a part. Solidoodle 3 is a half-baked product which I have had to immediately begin replacing parts for either printing them or buying them. Yeah, buying replacement parts for a brand new printer. That sucks.

Honestly, I'd recommend ditching sketchup, I used it for a long time as it was the only free 3d software that I could find, but it's difficult to use, horrible to actually create something with, the interface isn't intuitive, it's trying to make something really complex really simple and personally I think it fails.

I recommend creo elements, it is complicated, but if you follw the tutorials then you should get to grips with it pretty soon.
I would say that it helps to use a mouse with a scroll wheel as you can use that to zoom in and out, and click (and hold) it to rotate the model with the mouse, -it's possible to use it without, but I find it painful to use without a mouse in my laptop just two buttons and a track pad.

if sketchup is crashing a lot are you use that there isn't a general problem with your computer?

There are only really a couple of things where it should go wrong.
I understand that it's frustrating. but in the early days of computers it was just as frustrating.
Compose document,
convert document to post script file
send post script file to printer.

it's the same now.
create model
convert the model to a tool path
send the file to the printer.

However, there should really be limited things to go wrong. if you;re finding issues each and every-time you print then something surely must be wrong.

You need to go through your setup, have a look at all spaces clearances, what is and isn't greased etc, make sure that parts are secure and read correctly, make sure that there are no clogs.

I guess the thing to remember is that this is a tool, not a printer, it doesn't just squirt ink onto paper in a single dimension, it's a fairly complex computer aided manufacturing CNC tool.
you wouldn't expect to just buy a CNC mill or Lathe off the shelf and master 3d design software machine setup etc overnight?

I have to say I kind of lost sympathy for you, heading into a new business with clearly no idea about the product that you'd be using.

really if you want to build a business rapid prototyping with these machines that are adding layers to build a model then you have basically three choices...

Keep plugging away with the solidoodle -it will become easier in the end, you'll get some fairly good models out of it other people have done that here so it's not impossible, -but will require patience and learning until you basically become the software/hardware geek.

option 2, buy a different printer -you might find it's just the solidoodle that doesn't work for you, but there are plenty more printers out there, the only trouble is that most work the same, so you're likely to have the same kind of issues.

option 3, buy an industrial printer, somewhere in the region of 6 - 12 thousand dollars will get you one of HP's entry level 3d printers, these are basically zero maintenance,
they don't use the melt and squirt plastic method then use a resin binded powder that's put down in layers, they also can include print heads that can put colour into the resin as it prints for true multi colour parts (where the colour isn't the crappy tie die looking stuff that filament 3d printers do, but actual printed with the same resolution as your home ink jet.

I don't know how big your business is...
12 grand is a lot to spend on a toy for a home user, but it's a drop in the ocean compared to 2 hours downtime every day for 1 year chasing down issues that affect ever plastic filament based 3d printer. if you've started a serious business you'll soon find that you'll wish that you'd spend the 12k when you wasted more than than on unproductive hours and wages.

that's exactly what you've done. though you actually dropped in right at the heathkit stage, -they are selling 3d printer kits in Maplin in the UK now, (maplin is the uk version of Tandy/Radioshack)... the 3d printer industry is pretty much right at that heathkit build your own boards and get a computer stage right now.

CNC machines: People have been building these at home for over 15 years. All of them (no matter how expensive or well designed) still cannot compete with their bigger-brother commercial counter-parts. Even the commercial ones are not plug and play. They require a lot of training, constant maintenance, and an expertise that most people do not realize during the design phase of what is to be run for a job on these machines.

Another example is PCB manufacturing: You can chemically etch copper boards at home. You can even build a small CNC to mechanically etch traces. You can even build an oven to re-flow solder paste for SMD devices. But all of these techniques are far away from the commercial solutions of laser/UV etching, screen etching, robotic PNP, and wave soldering. But regardless, the commercial solutions are also not 'plug and play'.

Point is: This process using these 'hotends' that not a single process engineer has actually put any mathematical calculations for is simply hobbiest and will never 'mature' and there will never be a 'plug and play' machine. Especially when the entire process is completely subjected to the quality of the filament, which is nowhere near a stable product.

the worst part was that i live in the netherlands and shipping takes almost 1.5 months so when something failed it took a long time to replace it
but the support team of solidoodle always helped me out and responded to me faster then any company i know
and now my printer works as it is supposed to work

also on the software side it took a while to find the software best for me
its all trail and error and if something doesnt work for you just look a bit furter, there is so much to try

but now i have my perfect combination of only 3 software packages (blender, kisslicer, repetier-host) to design, slice and print all the prints i want
you may or may not like these but everyone has a set they prefer
and now i have a very good working printer that now prints up to 0.1mm layer height without any problems
almost any problems i find in my prints are design flaws

yes the solidoodle is not perfect but with a lot of patience it will eventually be really worth it

I agree a Steve Jobs is needed for the industry, but he did not have a worldwide group of testers, experimenters and critics. He keep his cards close to his vest. He shared nothing, but the final great products. He found the right people to be steered to develop the Apple we know today. Each product is a complete tool for the consumer. He managed talent to build and integrate their ideas to meet/achieve his apparent vision or develop their's.

I would guess an open source group is unlikely to build a total system. I too have seen a lot of the computer world change, from IBM and Cyber mainframes to the CDC mini VAX to PCs. As an engineering user and as a home  player. My first home computer was a Commodore  Pet. It was an integrated system, no printer, cascade tape to save programs, no mouse, no wireless anything and all in 8k. Oh yes built in Basic. A 6502 micro like Apple (no I that was when II came out )

The point of all this is the world of the personal 3D printer is where the PC computer was 30 to 40 years ago. Yes a Steve Jobs is needed to do for personal 3D. Remember personal computing was a smoldering ember till IBM entered and needed an operating system which impregnated Microsoft.

Good print nearly out of the box... some twinkling required, but a lot of documentation around.
Some part have to be printed, like the extruder as acrilique is not a good choice. but i'm sure when they run out of the batch they have bought they will probability change it :°

I do not have issues with sketch up, but i use it to create very simple object, for advance use I use inventor fusion 2013 that is still available for free and it very powerful....

Me too I have created a business model around it. But where I differ from you is that I know full well that this is new technology. and that is why I jump in.

Before  it goes mainstream (nearly there...)

When the patent for stéréolithography will run out, it will definelty go mainstream...

I did not have any expectation as for quality or ease of use.I have follow this technology since about 6 years,
I have read this forum from top to bottom before buying it.  (this one and the makerbot one too)

Funny enough they have the same problem and more since they are becoming a closed platform...

I have chosen the S3 for very simple reason.

Cheap, not a kit, able to do amazing print with twinkling as good as 25 to 40k printer. one of the most active community.
and I can mod it.

I'm presently surprised as how easy it is to use it. (I take the view point that it's hard and that you have to twink and mod a lot to achieve something descent) in that regard it is easy.

But if you take the view point plug and play, great out of the box... it's just not practical...

An added bonus from replacing the part is that as the end you have stuff to build another ...

Home 3D printers are definitely not for everyone and they are definitely not to be relied on for businesses. However, home 3D printers are in their infancy and I am sure if you have to drive the first Benz you won't like it either. I really like my Solidoodle 3, I think it is a really good home 3D printer if you understand it. Once you understand it (required patience), then you can do a LOT with it!

I am a mechanical engineer, so I deal a lot with CNC machining and plastic molding and I can tell you that my Solidoodle 3 can do a lot of things better than CNC machining (very limited in what can be done), and plastic molding (crazy expensive).

Maybe they just did a really good job with mine, but I haven't had a single problem that wasn't my fault.

I think a lot of it comes down to expectations and experience.

My first problems were clogs. I didn't know that the Solidoodle thermistor placement meant temps were off by 30C, so printing PLA at the filament manufactures' suggested temperate of 195C was way too hot.

And in my quest for improved print quality I fried my microcontroller when I caused a short in my thermistor after clearing a clog.  Incidentally I was getting the best quality prints just before this, but felt quality had room for improvement, especially as "low" tolerance prints often did not work properly.

The Solidoodle troubleshooting page is a good start (http://www.solidoodle.com/how-to-2/troubleshooting/), but better documentation of DOs, DON'Ts, and out-of-the box print examples (perhaps with corresponding Slic3r settings) could go a long way.

I have well over 800 hours of print time.

I have some CAD experience with Pro E  and am developing parts to send out to get molds made. I saw the SD3 as a good for first or second prototype, before I send the parts out to a good 3d print company. Still haven't got the first proto done with my SD3.

I thought this would be plug and play with backlash issues and a few noticeable lines. That said I feel the good people here can help me get up and running.

When you read all about the printers never being involved in the 3d market. They all seem the same as far as spec. After the time I've put in I feel I should of got a replicator 2 but I haven't looked into them and don't know if they have problems like the SDs have.

I go through highs and lows with the my SD3, thinking i finally got it figured out. I read posts about printing Yoda and all these cool things and was hoping it would be out of the box and print a ok yoda, (Not a picture perfect one. Any how I understand your frustrations, and continue to hope I'm smart enough to figure this bad boy out