Stratasys printers and the end of life

IAMATT · Apr 10, 2014

I was inches from picking up a used stratasys dimension sst. I called them and they said it is slated for zero support at the end of the year. Makes me sick thinking about ever buying a machine that the mfg will stop supporting. It seems like it should be a major factor to consider when you consider Stratasys machines.

Edster · Apr 11, 2014

How old was it?

Stuart Caruk · Apr 11, 2014

I've got a Dimension SST and it works just fine. It's a fairly simple unit and if you have ever run a hobbyist machine, this one will give little issues.

I never use Stratasys anyway.

Argyle sells filament kits to relaod your cassettes with new chips, so the materials will be available for some time I would expect.

behindpropellers · Apr 11, 2014

Stuart Caruk said:
I've got a Dimension SST and it works just fine. It's a fairly simple unit and if you have ever run a hobbyist machine, this one will give little issues.

I never use Stratasys anyway.

Argyle sells filament kits to relaod your cassettes with new chips, so the materials will be available for some time I would expect.

They will let you upgrade your sst to an ES which is not EOL.

IMHO it doesn't make sense to own a 3D printer these days. Too cheap to use an outside printhouse.

Tim

Stuart Caruk · Apr 11, 2014

Do you actually print anything?
Try getting an outside vendor to 3d print an AR15 lower receiver... Oh, ya, that's right, it wouldn't be legal, whereas it's perfectly legal for you to print your own for your own use.

Outside shops range $20 - $30 per cubic inch of material in theory. In reality the costs are a lot higher. I just printed a part for a customer at $1250. He was quoted over $6400 for the same part form other vendors. It took 46 hours and used 26 cubic inches of ABS+ and 6 of support material to print. Crappy rate of return, but not bad for hitting print and walking away.

If you have a need, it's not hard to justify even a very expensive printer.

Have Blue · Apr 11, 2014

Depending on the price, they're certainly still worth buying, even if support has ended. I've bought a total of 3 of the old FDM series machines, and I wouldn't mind getting a P-class if the price was right. As Stuart notes, you can run much cheaper if you have your own machine - I've certainly played with a bunch of AR-15 lowers on mine, and my material costs are now down to 50 cents per cubic inch.

Speedie · Apr 11, 2014

Hewlett Packard does parts and service and builds in a retirement date for printers. I would never have imagined the same would be for a capital equipment like a $50K 3D printer.

IAMATT · Apr 11, 2014

That was a 10 year old printer bought new in 2004.

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