TLDR: It’s really pricey for what it is. Might as well get a Lulzbot or a Ultimaker. Good for little kids, I guess.
My library purchased an Dremel Ideabuilder for our Children’s maker space and since I’d already fallen down the rabbit hole of 3D printing, I took a crack at setting this boy up and getting it running so I could train the rest of the staff on how to use it.
Due to library tech logistics, I had some hurdles to overcome with this machine. The major one: it would not be connected to a computer capable of installing programs. This is a major hurdle for any 3D printer. You need a slicer program tailored to your machine to be able to print anything! Normally, a 3D printer enthusiast would install a slicer program onto their computer, find and slice a 3D file, then upload it to the machine via USB, SD card, etc. I did some research (a lot of pointless stuff in the end, but I did learn a lot about installing programs onto Chromebooks with Linux) and discovered that Dremel has a browser-based slicer program. Great! One problem solved.
Once I got everything set up and ready, I went to print… only to find that the machine wanted to break itself. I used the auto-leveling feature, repeatedly, but for some reason the machine kept wanting to dig the nozzle into the bed, preventing a print from happening because the PLA couldn’t come out. Thankfully the Dremel has an easy z-axis offset fix that I was able to change, but I find it odd that, for such a pricey machine, it had a really dumb nozzle-breaking issue like this right out of the box.
Let’s get to the review.
What I like about the Dremel?
- Very nice touch screen and user interface.
- Direct Extruder.
- Large, removable print bed.
- Wireless capabilities (though I never got to use them)
- Browser-based slicer program
- Quiet
- Dremel brand, so likely good customer service
Downsides?
- The safety transparent doors*
- Weird filament to extruder design (lots of breaks from the kinking)
- Z-axis offset (it might be unique to a minority of machines)
- Terrible spool holder placement and design
- No heated bed
- The price. It’s expensive. ~$1300
*This is more of a personal issue. I don’t like the transparent doors. With PLA, doors are kinda pointless, and only serves as a safety feature. Unless you’re working with really little kids, I wouldn’t worry too much. The nozzle is the hottest part of this printer and they really gotta stick their hand up there to touch it. You’re gonna end up opening and closing the doors repeatedly anyway to change filament, adjust the print, clean the nozzle, etc.
While there are certainly some nice tech perks with this machine (I love that you could print to it through an app on your iPad and using wireless internet), I don’t know if the Dremel is really worth the price. It’s got a few design issues, it’s resistant to modification with its bulky case, and I really don’t like how easily the filament breaks between prints. The unheated bed is odd for a machine that is mostly enclosed and, for this price, I would hope that you could print in other plastics like ABS or PETG. You could really get a lot of the same perks (touch screen, etc.) from the much, much cheaper Flashforge Finder.
Also, the Dremel Ideabuilder is pretty new to the 3D printer game and doesn’t have a big online community, so getting help with modifications or small problems can be an issue. This may change over time.
Overall, as of this moment, I’d say if you’re willing to drop $1K-$2K on a 3D printer, just go ahead and get a Lulzbot, Ultimaker, or even a nice resin printer.
