If you are looking for a beginner friendly and budget friendly 3D printer the Sculpto 2 might be just what you have been looking for. This 3D printer would be a great addition to families who are homeschooling and are looking for something fun and techy to get into. All that being said, the Sculpto 2 has it’s pros and cons. In this guide I will give you the pros and walk you through how to get through the cons.
Pros:
Cost Efficient
We got our Sculpto 2 on sale at Joann’s for $99. That is a steal for a 3D printer. The PLA filament was on sale for $13.99 per roll. Depending on the size of the print, we can normally get 8-10 prints out of a roll of PLA.
Easy Assembly
Some 3D printers come in multiple parts and have to be assembled, leveled and calibrated. The Sculpto 2 took us 5 minutes to put together.
Easy to Use App
The Sculpto mobile app is super intuitive and easy to use. It talks to your printer over Wifi. The app is integrated with Thingiverse. You can find tons of awesome things to print right from the app. No downloading and slicing files. You just print right from your phone.
Cons:
Server overload
As I just previously bragged on the Sculpto app I have to give you a warning. The servers for the app have been known to go down from time to time. Unfortunately that’s what happens when developers aren’t ready for a surge in traffic. If the app goes down the printer is useless. Never fear. The app always comes back up. Sometimes it just takes a while so be patient.
Troubleshooting is a must
You will run into issues with this printer. Actually you will run into issues with any 3D printer. You need to be able to be comfortable troubleshooting these problems. Here are a few of the problems I’ve had and how I’ve fixed them:
The filament stops coming out:
My most recent issue was the filament just stopped coming out. I started troubleshooting be calibrating the z-axis. That didn’t fix the problem so I tried to change the filament with the existing green filament I was using. I was never able to get the green filament to successfully reload so I decided to give a different color filament a try. When I loaded the gold filament it worked just fine. So if you are having trouble with filament not coming out try a new filament.
The print is scratching the print plate:
Our first issue we ran into was our print scratching up our print plate. This happened because we didn’t properly calibrate the z-axis before printing. When the print nozzle is too close to the plate the filament will not come out and it will just scratch the plate. To avoid this issue calibrate the z-axis before each and every print.
If you get a Sculpto 2 I highly recommend joining the Sculpto 2 users Facebook group. This is a fantastic place to get help and ideas with your printer.
I hope this guide helps you. Do you have a 3D printer? What is something cool that you have printed?
*Update*
I’ve pretty much all but given up on the Sculpto 3D Printer. I’d say you will get 15 successful prints out of the Sculpto (if you are lucky) before you have to take the printer apart to change out the filament gear. I ordered a new filament gear 2 weeks ago and it still hasn’t arrived. So my printing is on hold for the unforeseeable future. First world problem, I know. At this moment I no longer recommend the Sculpto 2 unless you just want a short term printer with long term headaches. Give the Ender 3 Pro a try instead. More expensive printer with better results.
