The Ackuretta SOL is a household name in the medium-budget range of dental 3D printers. With a robust library of open materials and simple digital and physical workflow, it still remains one of the best bang-for-your-buck dental 3D printers out there. When the SOL Plus was announced, I was eager to see what they could improve on.
Figure 1: Huge chungus
Disclaimer:
This is a personal and individual opinion on the Ackuretta SOL Plus. Ackuretta nor any of its global distributors have not been involved in the writing or editing of this piece and have not restricted any conclusions made by myself of this product.
Notable features:
- Larger physical footprint and print volume compared to its predecessor
- Straightforward physical set up
- Nice quality-of-life functions such as a heated stirring rod and automatic platform tilting at the end of each print
- Large resin vat makes it frustrating to exchange resins
- Open resin library that is currently lacking in variety
- Consistent but slower prints
Basics:
| Printer size | 44 x 37 x 50.5cm |
| Weight | 200 bananas* |
| Technology | LCD |
| Print volume | Std plate: 21.8 x 12.7 x 12cm |
| Slicer | Alpha AI |
| XY resolution | 45 µm |
| Price guide | US$10000-11000 (excluding Concierge) |
* 1 banana = 0.15kg
Figure 2: Easily set up and ready to rumble
Set up:
Setting up the SOL Plus is quite simple but you will certainly need two people to move it to place
Levelling is factory-performed, and installation is as close to plug-and-play as you can get it. I did encounter some issues sending jobs wirelessly but otherwise Wi-Fi connection was consistent.
Installing the heating rod was pretty straightforward to, but I did find it a little annoying to remove and wipe down when switching between resins – not necessarily a hard action to do, but it’s an extra step which I wasn’t used to.
Figure 3: A larger build platform makes this printer great for labs
Software:
Like its predecessor, the SOL Plus uses Alpha AI. It boasts a clean user interface that is pretty straightforward to navigate. It’s very easy to select which resin and settings to use.
Default support settings do tend to favour print success over removability and polishability. You can manually edit support settings and add/remove supports, but I found this process overly “clicky”.
Like may other slicers out in the market, I do feel the icons and fonts could be made bigger.
You can pay for an optional Premium plan which improves optimises support generation and object orientation depending on the application. It also allows for additional CAD options such as model hollowing, drainage hole creation, bevel creation, object trimming and support bar generation. Useful tools, but of course at a price.
As long as your PC and SOL Plus are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, you can send the sliced print file directly to the printer wirelessly. I encountered one instance where my PC just would not detect the printer at all and restarting both my PC, printer and modem did not fix the issue. Thankfully, the issue self-resolved the next day. Technology, amirite?!
Figure 4: Alpha AI – simples
Resin library:
The resin library for the original SOL was impressive and apart from the extensive Asiga library, was and still is probably the biggest out of all open dental 3D printers.
As a result, it was a huge surprise to discover that the SOL Plus, as of this piece, lacks a robust library of dental resins validated on it. Even popular resins such as Keysplint Soft have not been validated on it yet. A fixable conundrum for now which I’m sure Ackuretta will be rushing to address.
Figure 5: A row of Voco Splint nightguards designed on the Medit Splints app
The printing experience:
While the SOL Plus lacks a heater per se, it does have a heating rod which apparently heats the resin at the rate of 2°C per minute during operation. This is a welcome improvement on the SOL which lacks any innate heating functionality. The printer itself is quiet during operation which allows it to be used in front of patients.
Print time is understandably slow due to it being a larger printer. Models orientated horizontally and positioned direct to the build plate will take around 50 (Ackuretta Model Ortho )-120 (Voco Model Beige 2.0) minutes to print at 100 micron (standard) layers, depending on the model resin used. Curiously I felt there were some issues with the settings used for Voco Model Beige 2.0 as I experienced some abnormal banding and overexposure in the bottom 1.5-2.0mm of models which did not occur for Ackuretta Model Ortho resin
Beyond the specific issue with Voco Model Beige 2.0, I found hollowed models experienced higher rates of failure vs solid models. If printing hollowed models, I’d recommend a wall thickness of at least 3mm, not to bevel the walls and to minimise the number of drainage holes so there is adequate base layer adhesion. Even orientated vertically, splints printed REALLY beautifully on the SOL Plus and they supports were dialed in almost perfectly – they peeled off like velcro and left very minimal polishing to be done.
Figure 6: You can see the unusual band at the bottom 2mm of this model, printed out of Voco Model Beige 2.0
Probably my biggest gripe with the experience beyond the currently limited resin library was switching between resins – I highly recommend using different vats for different resins as exchanging resins from such a large vat is tedious, messy and risky. Also, the need to wipe down the heating rod after vat exchange, while easy to do, is a little tedious.
Figure 7: Perfect fit with no occlusal adjustments required. This printed splint was *chef’s kiss*!
Conclusion:
With the success of the SOL, it’s evident wanted to cater to a different portion of the dental market (high volume printing). It’s good to see that the lack of innate heating functionality that haunted the SOL has been addressed. You just have to keep in mind that it is a bigger unit and thus slower and not as physically easy to handle. Overall, a pleasant unit that is suitable for high-volume users that don’t want to necessarily splash on the more well-known lab-catered printers. I do hope they start increasing the resin library very soon as that is definitely a glaring (although very fixable) problem for now.
3 points why you should get it:
- Ideal for high volume printing
- Easy set up
- Straightforward software
3 points why you shouldn’t get it:
- Slow prints
- Bulkier print and parts means it is physically more challenging to handle vs the original SOL
- Resin library sorely needs boosting