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chopmeister

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Everything posted by chopmeister

  1. Awesome idea. I'm a bit rusty with python, but I'll definitely try my hand on this as soon as I find the time. Great job, as always, and I really like the simplicity of the 2 PNGs! It will be interesting to see what people come up with.
  2. I'm sorry if I came out as offensive, it was meant to be a joke. I also use 3dsmax, since the DOS days. 3d modelling is what I do for a living. And booleans are useful in some specific situations, but usually best avoided. They tend to screw up complex meshes, although ProBooleans work much better than before, and can even clean up some meshes fast. But if you care about topology, booleans are usually off limits. Since most professionals are really anal about topology, hence my joke.
  3. How somebody can love both editable polys AND booleans is beyond me. :mrgreen:
  4. Not for printing, but just so I can snatch the measurements, since I don't have an UM2 here.
  5. Whoa, that looks really bad! BTW, Robert, would it be possible for you to provide your extruder in STEP format? That goes to all future uploads to this thread, too. Please use .STP if available in your software.
  6. A question for folks who've already installed theirs, how hot does the top of the hotend get when printing longer prints?
  7. I was also thinking about the "big gear". It seems illogical to me to use a direct drive extruder for a bowden system. We don't care about weight, and shouldn't care too much about size either, except for aesthetic purposes. But we do care about torque. Since we have a tough motor, even a significantly smaller gear ratio than the UM1 would work wonders for reliability I think. As for friction, as I understand it, this problem is caused primarily by the position of the extruder vs. filament spool, so the filament gets bent 90 degrees before entering the extruder. My question is, since I don't have an UM2, can the extruder somehow be mounted higher, to lessen the angle of the filament and reduce friction at the entry point?
  8. This is a complex question with no simple solution. It depends mainly on two factors: How much are you willing to pay, if at all? What do you plan to use it for? For designing art pieces, vases, and similar gimmicks, you need a polygon based modeler, (think 3dsmax, maya, blender, lightwave, zbrush, modo, mudbox, silo, hexagon etc.) or a NURBS based modeler (Rhino). With the exception of blender which is free (and from my limited experience with it, really weird) all other mentioned apps cost money, and the prices range from $100 to $3000. Each of these has it's advantages and disadvantages which are simply too many to include here. If on the other hand you plan to design functional models, you need some sort of solid (possibly parametric) modeler (inventor, solidworks, spaceclaim) or again use Rhino (which I don't really recommend because it usually creates really bad meshes, often with a lot of errors, at least from my experience). There is also the option of autodesk Fusion 360 which has a free 1 year licence for non-commercial use, and Bonsai3d which could maybe be used for both the aforementioned scenarios and is worth checking out (it also promises some 3d print checking features in the latest version). The main problem with most of these apps is that for good results a lot of practice is necessary. The better the features, the harder it is to learn usually. With the notable exception of SpaceClaim which is really awesome and takes a day to learn. DesignSpark Mechanical is a bit stripped-down free version of SpaceClaim, as already mentioned and should be considered. Openscad is good for people who are more into programming than design and want completely parametric models. For anything else avoid it, you'll be much better of with actual modeling applications. So, there is no single answer to this question. The best advice I can give is to really take your time and check all of these apps to see what features you like, how the interface suits you, and if the price is right for you. Some people will swear by Rhino for example, while I can't stand the sight of it, etc. Get a hold of trial software if possible (it usually is) and see for yourself what fits you best. For any details about specific software and possible usage scenarios, ask, and I'll try to explain the ins and outs as best I can.
  9. Excellent, count me in then. I'll PM you the email I use for dropbox so you can add me.
  10. I've been messing with extruder (re)designs for a long time now. I'd be glad to help if I can, but first I think somebody with an UM2 should accurately measure all the components (spring, bearing, drive bolt, bowden clamp etc.) so we know what we're dealing with. Also the thickness of the back-side frame and similar. Then it shouldn't be very hard to make an easily printable design which has better tension adjustment, ability to open and manually feed the filament (I think it's very bad that this is missing currently), and be more friendly to flexible filaments and so on. Maybe we should make a project on YM for this!
  11. Christ, I think I'm going to have to buy this. Damn you Ultimaker.
  12. Definitely do that, it's super easy, and it will work forever. If you're using the V3 bolt, double check if the knurling is in the right place!
  13. I've used my H3 extruder(with V2 bolt) at 210 C for 50mm/s (or even 65mm/s for infill) for a long time now, without any problems. I never go above 215-220.Do you have a printed bearing axle in the idler? If yes then this is probably one source of your problems (see info on thigiverse page). Use 4.5 mm retraction, like gr5 said. Finding the right spring tension is a tricky job. If it's too tight, it will grind the filament slightly and the knurling can get all clogged up after a while, so check for that too. Also, check your temperature with a multimeter, just to see if what you have is correct. There have been reports over time of temp being way lower than what the printer reports, so that too is worth having a look at. And finally, use an older version of Cura (12.7 or such) to check your E steps/mm.
  14. I could have sworn I saw a post just like this a few days ago somewhere, and I remembered it was on the Zortrax forum. Said topic in now deleted there (maybe because he didn't buy a zortrax in the end :mrgreen:), but it was the same OP as here. Please don't tell me you registered on this forum just to reply to the same person with the exact same reply. I don't have an Ultimaker, but do have a lot of 3d printing experience and own SeeMeeCNC Rostock Max Lulzbot A-101 Afinia Two UP Plus printers QU-BD Revolution XL and now a Zortrax, and I can say unequivocally, the Zortrax is the best of the bunch... etc. (courtesy of google cache) Bear in mind, I'm not trying to start any wars here, but a single post out of the blue like this, just to say once more how Zortrax rules... smells like spam. If you get my drift. If I am somehow mistaken, I apologize in advance. Oh and personally, I would never give money for a printer which uses rafts. Come on, it's 2014.
  15. I just saw that when you click projects on the main nav bar, there's a tab for "external linked blogs" but there's nothing to be seen there. I think that's an awesome way to provide links to all our forum members' 3d printer related blogs in a single place, so my question is why is it empty?
  16. I use thin plates of material, twice the nozzle radius, so in our case 0.8mm, which have a wider base so they adhere to the platform better. To really understand how they affect various prints it's best to do some trial objects and see for yourself. I rely heavily on bridging while doing this, so you must see how your printer performs to get optimal results. Here's a simple example of my supports: This method does have limitations, primarily if you're focused on having pretty downskins. But then again, other methods don't produce pretty downskins either, do they?
  17. Personally, I think the simplest solution by far for all people who design their models themselves, which you obviously do, is to model your own break away support in the model itself. That way you have perfect control over everything and it literally takes a few minutes of your time (depending on what app you use for modeling obviously).
  18. I think the random starting point in Cura is a remnant of the skeinforge Jitter setting, or whatever it was called then, not in the sense of the actual code, rather the principle of how it works. Basically without it you get a single long seam, which is pretty ugly, and with this you get lots of smaller points, which don't look as ugly in general. I would be very happy if we got the option to always start the layer at the same place, if you could choose that place like you propose. It would let you hide any seams very effectively. The second setting seems like an awesome idea, but it also smells like patents. I will try to check. Edit: And there it is: https://www.google.com/patents/US6790403?dq=stratasys+support+material&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-f7wUpimBqWE4gSig4H4DQ&sqi=2&pjf=1&ved=0CGAQ6AEwBg
  19. My UBIS just arrived. Apparently Croatian customs officers think it's "Car Parts" :mrgreen:
  20. Haha, the Kraken was one of the things that came to mind after I clicked "Post". I'd love to try that, in combination with the crossflow fan idea. That would make a very small 4 nozzle print head.
  21. Yup, the Azteeg Pro looks great, I'd probably go for that one even if I don't have a clue what I would do with 8 stepper drivers , if only it were from Europe. This would probably end up costing me over $200. They also seem to have a SmoothieBoard derivative for $99. Looks interesting.
  22. There it is on http://reprapworld.com/?products_details&products_id=468&cPath=1591_1643. I'm guessing they have really bad SEO, because it's impossible to find it on google. Check it out, it looks awesome, especially given the price.
  23. Ah luckily no, the newest version supports up to four thermistors and four thermocouples. I just found out that the original board comes from reprapworld.com and version 3.0 is out now. It's a steal at €79 + VAT. I think I'm going to order the original one, since the chinese one + croatian VAT + customs would end up in a similar price range. I have an E3D which I used with a thermocouple, but it broke down, so I switched to thermistors. And I'm so glad to be rid of the annoying little amplifier board. Now I ordered an UBIS hotend, so it's thermistors all the way. The Megatronics are supposed to have 2 onboard TC amplifiers, and support two external ones, but I seem to recall I heard that the amplifier should be as close to the thermocouple as possible for it to work properly, maybe I'm wrong...
  24. Ok, has anybody here ever used http://reprap.org/wiki/Megatronics_2.0? I ask because my old UM V1.5.3 electronics are in a really bad shape. I guess there is such a thing as too much experimenting after all. I fried 2 mosfets, the fan darlington (twice already) and soldered and resoldered a bunch of stuff several times. I also (dis)assembled it at least 50 times (I'm not joking) and some parts of it are really starting to irritate me. Like having 2 PSUs (for the heatbed), the electronics fan, the size of the board etc. I'd like a bit more streamlined solution, and these megatronics+a huge LCD controller can be bought from China for less than the price of the Ulticontroller. Yes, I'm aware it's from China and there are certain risks with that, but I've used a lot of Chinese electronics over the years, and I must say that most of it works great. I love the fact it supports the TI DRV8825 1/32 drivers, I would love to try those. Also, it can run on 12V so I can just connect my beefy 12V 30A PSU and be done with it. (at least that's how I understand it). I'm waiting for a SmoothieBoard from kickstarter, but I want to use that for a new 3d printer I'm building, so I can use the UM to print parts for it. What do you guys think, does it make sense to try this board out?
  25. Just what I was thinking. What's more, who says you have to stick with the stock design?
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