mr_seeker

No, it cannot unfortunately. The UM is a machine that runs on a COM-port, and doesnt have any "printer" capabilities of some kind. It just accepts G-code and SD-cards (with a frontpanel upgrade) and "deposits" material. It doesnt "print" like a normal printer would in 2d. (i assume you are talking about using it like normal printer). However, the software can be adjusted to be a network printer. Onliest difference will be that instead of dragging an USB device around, you can simply send G-code with the software. Will put this one on the to-do list when I am tinkering with the repG software.

You can alter the code and get it in the arduino using the Arduino software from http://www.arduino.cc.

I know someone at ultimaker had ideas about a heated bed, but dont know the exact details.

To compare it with software: g-code/s3g = machine specific language. STL = sourcecode. Its a bit like having software for the iPhone, while you are using Android. Unless they change the software so you can make it run on Android, it wont work. RepG makes s3g files specifically for the makerbot replicator, like Bits From Bytes does for their machines. Ultimaker follows international standards and uses standard g-code.

What I do is take a spirit level, take one screw as reference, and measure from this screw to the other screws. That way I am sure that the bed is levelled out.

S3G are special files designed for the makerbot replicator. It may look similar to Gcode, but please dont try it on an ultimaker, you can break the machine. G-code/S3G files are made to run on a specific machine, thats why you have so much settings in skeinforge. If you try to run the gcode on another machine, it can cause havoc due to several factors like temperature, speed of the extruder, etc. etc. Use STL, OBJ or something similar instead. These are files designed for multiple platforms, and they dont have any information regarding machine functionality. EDIT: See also this post.

If you try to search for words less than 3 characters, it will ignore it. They are considered "too basic". its not just this forum, its phpbb to prevent people from writing down words like the, and, or, if, so,...

Demand > what Ultimaker can deliver. They got a lot of filament in the trading route, but it takes time...

If you got an e-mail saying that the code was previously used, then I would recommend waiting for the UM and/or netfabb team to respond. Its an automated system, and only they can reset the key. You got a key for 1 machine, and after its use you cant install it on another machine anymore. EDIT: I think they should recommend to de-install the demo version of netfabb first BEFORE installing it with a new key.

Apologies accepted. Everyone makes mistakes, but its more important to learn from them. I know how you feel. However, since they dont have any community manager yet, it will be hard to hear anything from the source (unless Erik finds some spare time). But know that every message is read by the UM crew. First line of support is the community. If they cant help, then you can also ask UM. Most of the questions are easy to solve, but the problems that need design changes are forwarded to UM by people from the community. EDIT: There is an EDIT button. However, you can only edit until someone reads or responds to your message.

The ultimaker team is working on a way to get rid of the spam. I asked Erik (one of the founders) a couple of days ago about it on skype, and he told me that someone was already busy with it. Seems that the protection they put in is insufficient, or its not robotic spam but human spam (pay a guy a dollar an hour to fill in recaptcha stuff). Very hard to block those with the usual methods (you would have to resort to a person checking and approving every single person). Like I said before, they are busy looking for someone to take the PR-section of Ultimaker. As of this moment, it looks like nobody has applied for this job. I know Erik does the online stuff (like the blog and rest) but he is quite a busy man, putting orders for components and calling china to make sure deadlines are met. All while trying to improve the ultimaker. He told me that because he is so busy, he has to ask other people to go to tv-shows to talk about 3d printers. Running a company is more than what the eye is actually seeing. I heard that it was actually an experimental machine built for a fablab in holland. Custom order work. If you really want, I can call ultimaker and ask how much it would cost to produce another one. The current ultimakers can be easily changed to support dual extrusion without any modifications to the machine. Just add a new extruder, change the software a bit and voila: Dual extrusion. However, there are some limitations to the current dual extrusion designs: [*:2f7xjvpk]Dual "extrusion" is actually not "dual extrusion". Its having multiple print heads. [*:2f7xjvpk]Multiple STL files are needed for printing. One for every color. [*:2f7xjvpk]For every color change, you need to change the position of the print head. [*:2f7xjvpk]You can only print with 1 printhead at a time. [*:2f7xjvpk]Software is not supporting multiple colors at this moment. These are also possibly the reason why ultimaker hasnt put dual extrusion in their product yet. Makerbot is making it look like its the future, but the BfB3000 does exactly the same thing as the makerbot is doing right now, and with a simple change in the design the ultimaker can do the same. You wouldnt even need to buy a completely new machine, just a new extruder with a stepper driver. However, it wouldnt make any sense to do this because the software simply doesnt support it. And its not just changing repG, its the STL files that dont support multiple colors. You would need to make 2 different files for 2 different colors, and if you want to change 1 simple thing, you would need to redo the complete design to make everything match. And lastly, you would need to calibrate the 2 extruders and align them perfectly. If they are not aligned perfectly, they will cause problems on the long run. They are working pretty hard behind the scenes, making everything better and faster with every revision. However, you have to know that they are a company, not an university. Telling about the stuff they are doing in their labs can make them lose sales, because people would wait for a new revision before buying a kit. Lost sales = lost income. Considering that their company is less than a year old, having problems with lost sales can turn out bad for the company. Having an "open hardware" design structure, that can also pose a risk of people making clones. Unfortunately, I am an engineer, not a sales person.

I used my mental powers to achieve an invisible link with your ultimaker... Just joking Happy that it is fixed with a bit of good ol' grease

As I said on the google group, the Ultimaker has an option for Dual Extrusion (as did the BfB), so its not something new. The "dual extrusion" option is something extra that you can put on the ultimaker, however the software doesnt support dual extrusion at this moment. It is possible, you just need to adjust some values in the firmware & create custom G-code, and you can do dual extrusion. The ultimaker is designed with dual extrusion in mind.

I wish I could come: Exams... :(

I was thinking the same thing. Either a faulty arduino, loose joint or problematic capacitor. Cant think of anything else when looking at the schematics.

I also think that's right but would be VERY surprised if that fixed the problem.. Its either that or something's wrong with the motherboard (and then you really need to send it back to trace the source). Have you contacted ultimaker? If its not the arduino, then its certainly something wrong on the motherboard (faulty hardware). You said that all the connections were ok. That means that its either going wrong with the step size or with the arduino. Cant pinpoint it to something else. BTW:

Just spoke with Erik from the ultimaker team, he cleaned the forums and would look for a new way to get rid of the spammy bots. In the mean-time, its human season! (not bot season, rabbit season or duck season ).

I will ask Erik one of these days if it is possible if I can get some moderating access, just to get rid of the spam. Its getting on my nerves too.

There was something on the ultimaker wiki about stepper motors not getting enough power, but I cant find it anymore. What they said was the following: The stepper motors have a current control on it. It should be pointing towards the middle. Its usually done in the factory, but I think this one slipped through. Its easy to check actually. On the bottom of the ultimaker, on the board there should be 4 polulu stepper drivers. They are the 4 big blocks that stick out of the ultimaker motherboard. Seen here on the upper right. There is a resistor there (the black square with a white round thing in it where you can stick a screwdriver in) that can be turned. They all should be positioned in the middle of what they maximum can turn (be careful though, too much left and it wont power the stepper motors, too much right and you will overheat the stepper motor). My guess is that one of them (the X-axis one) is turned too much to the left. Turn the power down completely before turning, or it will fry the driver.

They are looking on the forums, but not that often as you would expect. The job description I just wrote down is currently done by Erik (also known as ultimakerAdmin), which is quite a hard task for him because he also has a company to run (one that is getting more and more attention in holland btw). If you feel that you can take the ultimaking team to new levels in cyberspace, then I would certainly recommend you to apply for the job.

There are some schematics from this online: http://builders.reprap.org/2009/05/indu ... ating.html http://builders.reprap.org/2009/05/circ ... ating.html I see a big drawback: EMI. What you are looking at is actually a huge magnet that can cause interference with heartpacers and other electronic devices close to the machine.

The vibrations are caused by small and rapid movements. If you slow down the speed, it will decrease the vibrations on the machine and make the accuracy higher. The higher the mass of the print head, the lower the speed to cause vibrations. A bigger mass also causes the machine to slip (and be less accurate) more quickly. The makerbot, Prusa and Up! printer compensate for this fact by moving the board, the ultimaker compensates this by moving the heavy parts of the extruder to the side. The Darwin-based machines dont do this and cant go that fast without causing vibrations. The fans are there to cool down the design with an optimal flow from above. If you put it on the baseframe, it would cool down the outside of the object and not the inside. About the airjet, it would be good to look into that design by using a airpump from an aquarium. The drawback would be (in my opinion) the fact that it cant cool everything quickly enough compared to the fan design.

If I have to explain how the different machines would be, it would be like this: Ultimaker: Unique design, blazing fast. Alternative for the makerbot, and gives option to use a commercial slicer instead of an open-source one. Can be carried around (blue IKEA bag works best). The experimental + version has a bigger Z-axis. Makerbot: Small build platform, but has heated bed and can actually do mass-production. Has a large market share in america. One of the first commercial machines in its class. Havent seen them printing pretty fast. Can be carried around. Printrbot: See Prusa Prusa: Based on designs by the reprap foundation. Has a moving heavy extruder that actually limits the speed. Can be carried around but is not boxed. Up!: Also moving head, steel design but commercial based. Not open-source, everything seems to be limited to their software. Can be carried around, but is not boxed. BfB Rapman: Based on the first Darwin design. Has a moving heavy extruder that actually limits the speed. The acrylic parts can easely break or get loose, making it a bit of a hassle to move around. Also the 18kg makes it a quite a heavy machine. BfB 3dTouch: Based on the darwin design, but then with a casing around it. Has the ability to print multiple colors. The weight makes it very hard to move (38kg). If I look back at what I wrote down, I would say "moving heavy extruder" or "small build platform" is the limiting factor on all the machines, except for the ultimaker. How to mock him: Let him print something that is bigger than his maximum footprint, for example the statue of liberty Or even funnier, do a race: Tell him that you like to compare how well the prints look on high resolution. Print the same G-code at the same time, but slowly raise the speed on your machine (say 110%), and see what happens

Same. I know Erik from when he used to make Darwin repraps, and he was the reason why I build a Darwin clone. Max speed 32mm/s (when lucky). When Erik showed me that his machine could do crazy speeds, I wanted to know how fast it was. When he told me the speed, I was stunned. For me, it meant that I could change the waiting time from "watching a tv-show and come back" to "make some coffee and come back". I am still curious to know when the machine cant get faster without risking the machine to shake itself from a table or cause damage to itself. I am still saving for an ultimaker, its on my wishlist for quite some time. Unfortunately I dont have any place to put it (living with my parents and no room for my experiments).

I am not an expert with printing ABS, but I did print with ABS on a similar 3d printer. What I found out is that ABS needs to be hotter than PLA to stick to other layers. The heated bed can also be replaced with a "raft", which will give waste but you wont need a heated bed. Only need to make sure that the raft sticks to the bed. (I used an acrylic bed, but balsa seems to work too). I never had problems with warping. I printed little shotglasses and chess pieces without problems. My rule of thumb is that the heat should be around 240-245C for ABS, and never print big or long prints.