Did you know that Stanley Black & Decker came out with a 3D printer? Me neither.
It’s made by Sindoh, and is likely a version of their DP200 printer ($1299 via Amazon).
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Apparently this Stanley-branded 3D printer has been on the market for over a year now, before finally coming to my attention. How’d it come to my attention? I was searching to see if there were any updates to Dremel’s line of 3D printers, and the Stanley came up under a Google suggestion.
A note on Stanley’s website informs customers that:
As of June 30, 2018, the STANLEY branded filament will no longer be available for purchase. Sindoh branded filament will now be compatible with your STANLEY Model 1 3D Printer through a firmware update.
Oh, so there were Stanley-branded filament cartridges as well, at least until recently.
Reading up on the Stanley Model 1 3D printer, SKU ST3DP1, it looks to have decent features, and a reasonable design philosophy.
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Engineered with user-friendliness in mind, the MODEL 1 3D Printer automatically loads and unloads the printing filament so you don’t have to. Once you insert STANLEY’s proprietary 3D printer cartridge into the MODEL 1 3D Printer, the device will take over and do the rest.
It offers assisted bed leveling, a 7.9″ x 7.9″ x 7.3″ build volume, heated print bed, 0.4mm nozzle diameter, 0.05-0.4mm layer thickness, and it works with 1.75mm filaments. There’s a web monitoring feature, through which you can watch the 3D printing process remotely, and a 5″ touch-screen control panel.
It can work with PLA or ABS filament materials.
Connectivity options include ethernet, Wi-Fi, USB, and they say it can also work straight off of a flash drive. The software is available for both Windows and Mac.
I’m not familiar with Sindoh, but their printers have decent reviews at Amazon, and you can also buy the machines, filament cartridges, and replacement parts there.
Buy Now(via Amazon)
See Also(Sindoh via Amazon)
Price: $1299
First Thoughts
I’m thinking back a few years, when Craftsman asked me to hop on a call to talk about I don’t even remember what, and it turned out that they put me on with an MBA student intern who was investigating the potential for Craftsman/Sears 3D printing in-store demos. It was extremely frustrating, because the guy was completely deaf to just about anything I was saying. 3D PRINTERS!!!! was all they could fixate on.
Here, this seemed like a great idea, at least on paper. Partner with an established 3D printer brand, and…
And what?
That first part seems good. But where’s the second part?
Buy a Dremel 3D printer, and what do you get? According to Dremel, fast and competent customer service. Their goal was to provide a level of service that teachers, instructors, librarians, and other educators would find desirable or even necessary.
Why should someone buy this tool?
Looking at the product specs and features description, I cannot answer this. But, to be fair, at least it’s selling at the same price as the Sindoh. And as of June 2018, it works with Sindoh filament cartridges. Meaning, at least there’s no downside or any obvious reason why one should not buy it.
Stanley put their name on a 3D printer more than a year ago, and I only first learned about it now, and by accident. I wish I had more insight into the audience they were going after.
I’d say that the plan was well intended, but perhaps less than optimally executed.
The yeti
Want
Jalopy_J
Only update I know of to Dremels 3D printers is their top line 3D45 has dropped in price $160 a month or so ago.
Dennis
Judging from the design, I’m guessing they are trying to hit a market beyond the maker/enthusiast. It looks like they want one in every house. The mechanism is all enclosed and the filament comes in cartridges, it looks like an appliance. I personally don’t know if 3D printing will ever be the sort of thing that the mass public will all have at their houses.
But on the plus side the Stanley model looks cool.
Jim Felt
No one expected the iPhone to be in nearly every house in a mere 10 years either.
(And all the Android knockoffs are based on the iPhone).
I further wonder if Jeff Bezos (aka Amazon) is secretly researching this very idea? No. Really.
Emma Peel
3D printers are not something every house needs. If you build things or are crafty already then you may want to get one. There will never be a need for someone like my mother (who does not currently build or make things) to have or use a 3D printer.
Its like saying that everyone will have a cnc mill in there house at some point. Those keep coming down in price as well. No one talks about that because its much more obvious it is only for people who make things.
Jared
With that cartridge for filament, an enclosed design and plug and play use, by design and marketing they certainly seem to be going after the consumer who wants to dabble in 3D printing but would otherwise be overwhelmed by the complexity of the process.
I can sort of see the fit with the Stanley brand. I presume they are hoping that a user who is new to the space will be comforted by recognizing a brand they are already familiar with.
Capitalizing on their brand recognition as somethign familiar to that type of user – and likley their retail chain too.
TonyT
At this time, $1300 is a LOT for a consumer 3D printer. At a glance, it’s not a bad printer, but it is very limited.
3D printing has a long way to go until (if ever) it’s “plug and play” like 2D printers. If you really need simplicity, I think you’re better off spending $1300 on printing services, and let someone else deal with the hassles.
On the plus side, at least Sindoh’s cartridges are now refillable, but you’re only supposed to use their filament, which is overpriced but not totally ridiculous ($50 for new 700g spool, $30 for 700g refills in PLA. For comparison, my benchmark price is $25 per kg for quality standard PLA, so ~$18 per 700g)
I don’t like proprietary, because it limits you. For example, the DP200 is only compatible with 9 PLA colors and 7 ABS colors. No flexy. No nylon. No carbon-reinforced. No PETG. No wood fill. No translucent. No metallic. No support material. Etc.
If you’re mechanically minded (like most here), I would highly recommended getting a 3D printer that can use stronger materials so you can make gears and such. Maybe ABS would cut it, but ABS is considered one of the worse materials from a health standpoint (more micro particles and fumes).
If you have $1300 to spend, and a bit of technical capability, I’d highly recommend the Prusa Mk3 (kit is $750, fully assembled + Multi-material is $1300). Creality and similar makes almost fully assembled printers with good reputations for <$500. If you're looking for a professional, no hassle printer, then Ultimaker is the safe choice.
KokoTheTalkingApe
I think I would have fun playing with it, but I can’t think of what I would use it for. I could think of a few products that really could be customized, like boots, footbeds, gloves, etc. But they can’t be made from PLA or ABS.
On the other hand, I could imagine a factory-sized 3d printer that COULD use more appropriate stock, that could create customized products for a fraction of the cost of handmade or custom tooled products.
Adam g
I’m just curious the size and cost of a 3d printer capable of some of the guns or gun parts. That’s about all I’d use one for.
Nathan
for every home DIY 3d printer of stuffs I always have a question in the back of my mind.
where’s my cheap and easy to use table top CNC mill / lathe. something with a 8-10 x 8-10 x 8 inch capacity or less. Manual tool change – etc etc.
I’d buy that well before I bought any sort of 3d printer.
TonyT
About $10,000 if you want a capable CNC (can cut metal) – closest is probably Tormach. And you need to find affordable CAM software.
There are 3D printers that can do VERY light duty machining, and there are cheaper light duty CNCs, but I don’t know of any that are truly easy to use. Maybe some of the Roland models (but those aren’t cheap).
Nathan
I don’t need it to be fast to cut metal. I’m not looking for production rates of feed speeds or the like. it it takes 3 hours or more so be it. but I do want a quality spindle and reasonable spindle speeds.
TonyT
I haven’t followed the personal CNC market closely for a while (someday I’d like to get one running, as well as a K40-class laser engraver/cutter but that’s still a while off). My recollection is that anything cheaper than a Tormach can only handle aluminum. Most of the cheaper CNCs are conversions of small manual mills or lathes (such as Taig, Sherline, or generic Chinese).
Mach (e.g. Mach3, Mach4) seems to be the dominant controller software, and there is plenty of cheap Chinese hardware (e.g. USB or Ethernet step/dir output) designed to work with Mach. Another choice is MachineKit, which works very nicely with the BeagleBone single board computer.
You still need CAD and CAM software; my feeling is Autodesk Fusion 360 is a good starting point, but I haven’t used it…yet
Kevin
The only one I know of in that space is Tormach. Don’t know how bad the tariffs will hit them.
Paul K
Dream vs. Reality always gets in the way on these things. Do I want a machine that can spit out any small plastic thing-a-ma-bob I dream up? Yes, so many applications from toy repair to numerous hobbies and maintenance and decorating and so on. So many small plastic things whenever I want them – very useful. Oh, I have to spend hours and hours learning software to design them, then more hours for each little plastic thing I want if I can even figure out exactly the dimensions I need? No thanks. However, when there’s a machine that can turn my dreams into reality with almost no effort on my part and under $1k let me know 🙂 I might even go over $1k.
Jon
There are plenty of 3D scanners available (you can even make your own) that use a camera to scan the shape of an item. They can’t do it all but they can scan many shapes.
I got a 3D printer last year and the software I use was not hard to learn. It can’t do everything that more advanced software does but it works well enough for what I make.
I got an XYZprinting Da Vinci Mini on sale for under $100. The software is free. The filament is about $25 for a spool. I don’t necessarily recommend this brand but it has been good to play around with and learn.
Jared
Ha. Count me in too.
I have a small 3d printer already. I’ve had it for months but have yet to print anything. I’ve spent hours trying to design the items I want to print and I’m still struggling. Sure, I could download some pre-made figurines or some such online and print – but I bought the darn thing hoping to make my own prototypes.
In my dream world, I could just make the part I want out of wax or some other easy-to-work-with material, put it in the machine to scan and wait for a plastic part to pop out the other side.
TonyT
What software are you using for design?
Jared
I’ve tried a few free ones including Sketchup and the one hosted on Thingverse. They are not terribly intutive.
TonyT
SketchUp is considered pretty easy but it’s easy to create designs that don’t print well. I’ve played with it but am currently using DesignSpark Mechanical which is a bit harder (and can be very frustrating) but is much easier than say SolidWorks
I don’t know any any easier programs – maybe try going through some tutorials or seeing if a friend can help
TonyT
Matter Hackers has a fairly comprehensive list of 3D modeling software here:
https://www.matterhackers.com/articles/finding-the-right-3d-modeling-software-for-you?
John
You could cast your own parts, if you can make a wax version it’s easy enough to make a mold out of sand or silicone. That would give you the option of casting metal, plastic, rubber, etc.
Benjamen
From what I can tell it uses standard sized 1.75mm filament. I’m guessing that you could rewind the filament spool with what ever brand you wanted to get around the limited manufacturer’s selection.
This might allow you to print other materials. PET-G uses approximately the same temps as PLA. There are some carbon fiber mixes that I think use PLA as a base too. The problem is they eat your nozzle if it’s brass and not stainless steel. Then again maybe you can’t tweak the feed rates and temperatures on this machine — one of the pains of printing, finding the correct printing temp for your machine and a certain brand of filament — by taking that out of the procedure maybe they are making it even easier to use.
To change the filament on my 3D printer you have to heat the hot end to temperature, push down the spring holding the filament against the extruder gear, and pull out the old filament, and push the new filament into the extruder. That works about 19 out of 20 times. The 20th time some of the old filament blocks the new filament and you have to pop open the extruder and clear it.
Most of the time the old filament sticks because you pulled it out too slowly and it cooled inside the extruder. So I can see maybe having that process automated might save some headaches, but is it worth the proprietary system? What happens when the cartridge jams though?
Is loading filament what’s keeping people from buying 3D printers? I don’t think so, look at sewing machines. I can do a lot of complex tasks, but threading my wife’s sewing machine is not one of them and yet they still sell millions of them.
Being totally enclosed is a plus. ABS is very prone to warping as it cools and controlling the air temp and keeping any kind of outside air current from the machine helps.
TonyT
Well, if you can run Octoprint, maybe in the future we’ll have better integration of filament settings and slicing software. For example, look at the RollingUp ap:
http://www.fabbaloo.com/blog/2018/7/24/have-you-tried-rollingup-spool-manager
I haven’t tried it, but it’s on my list of interesting stuff to try when I get time (ha!)
Benjamen
Short explanation for anybody not following, Octoprint runs on a Raspberry Pi and connects to your printer directly rather than connecting your printer to a computer. Then you operate your printer through a web browser. This means you could run or watch a print on your phone or tablet, have text notifications when the print is done, etc…
I haven’t looked at Octoprint for a long time…wow, it’s grown up
I’m looking into a Raspberry Pi 3+ now, unfortunately it’s probably not going to run on my original Pi.
TonyT
Thinking some more about this….this printer seems to be well suited for education, with its enclosed box and easy to load filament, and the lack of capabilities shouldn’t matter so much. But then why brand as Stanley?
BTW, Sindoh printers are made in South Korea. They have a new $1500 model that has an open filament mode.
John S
Well at least with Dremel, there was one cool thing they were doing with Home Depot and that was that Home Depot was carrying filament in their brick and mortar stores. This was really convenient for a while but I think they only did that in a few stores and thats stopped now. It was really nice to be able to run in and pick up a spool without having to wait in the mail for it and for that alone it was driving up awareness and access.
John S
Perhaps this was going to be like Lowe’s reply to the same thing.
PB
While the decent print volume, heated bed, and enclosed space are positives.
I think the main issue is that it costs too much; to buy, to refill, and maintain.
For slightly smaller volumes there are printers with the same features for almost half the price.
Like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D8M32LU/ref=sspa_dk_detail_0?psc=1
John Hooper
Only PLA and ABS! For that sort of money I expect a better range and choice of spool supplier. 7.9″ x 7.9″ x 7.3″ is reasonable size for real world parts. For a lot less money you can get smaller bed units…..as a learning tool or to make nik naks.
Jason
Hey Stuart, there is a typo in this post excerpt – it says “Ne Neither” instead of “Me Neither”. Keep up the good work on the site!
Stuart
Thanks! *Fixed*
Toolfreak
It’s not a good sign that they went to manufacturer-branded Sindoh carts from Stanley-branded carts, especially if the firmware prevented use of Sindoh carts previously.
That usually means that the relationship is over, or that at some point in the near future, the Stanley-branded printers will cease production, and eventually the warranty/support will cease along with it, and you’ll just be stick with a Stanley-branded Sindoh printer and hope you can deal with whatever comes up.
I like the idea of in-house 3D printing with small, appliance-like printers like this, but when a company as big as SBD apparently can’t make it work, and does as poor a job of marketing/advertising such a product as pointed out, it makes me think viable consumer-level stuff for the DIY/hobby market is still a ways off.
dll932
I bought a Power Spec (Wanhao) Duplicator i3 Plus a while ago. No enclosure, but it’s about as plug and play as these things get. Assembly took about 10 minutes. Touch screen controls. No filament carts. Easy to customize. Lots of aftermarket and crowd support. $350 plus tax. Need I say more?
Framer joe
If only it could make cordless tools…