thomix

Is there any way to set the temperature from Cura? It's kinda handy to switch filament.

I am clumsy, impatient and have the reflexes of a glacier, but I still managed to get the entire machine working in one go. The instructions are clear and everything only fits one way

The stress in the object that causes the warpage builds up over length so longer distances cause more stress. You can reduce this by cutting in your model, for instance make a hole in the center.

Don't worry too much about the extruder, just don't expect to be printing at the insane speeds some of us seem to achieve I started at 100 mm/s and although some very small prints came out, its just too demanding. Turning down printing speed solved all my problems (mostly extruder); I've upgraded my extruder to prevent slipping, but now other problems pop up. Patience is the key!

I think the most interesting of dual head extrusion is the option to use PVA as water-soluable support; this allows you to print _anything_ without design constraints. Shame its so expensive... edit: And what do replicator owners use for slicing and printing? How did they solve the problems you see?

Yes, I think so, but that rough surface ruins the surface quality of your first layer. So far, I havent gotten anything decent of the kapton, so I think that I'll go back to blue tape until I get a heated bed.

I completely agree. However, maybe its possible to hide those features in default mode (like Simple is now) and call this the Super-expert tab? Maybe it's possible to integrate this all in an Office-like ribbon

Oooh so exciting! I wanted to do this since before I bought the machine but I kept worrying about software (how will the slicer know which head to use?) and how to transition from one material to the other - preferably within one layer. Good luck!

I don't think I stand alone in loving Cura as it is right now: I didn't buy Netfabb and I never regretted that. My prints come out awesome and slice fast. However, being Dutch it is my perogative to complain about everything So I tried to compile a little list of new features/more control I would like in Cura. Regarding infill (and I know how the Skeinforce infill code is driven by incomprehensible magic ) * Alternating wall thickness. If one layer has a wall thickness of one additional line and the next has one less, the walls will nicely interlock with the infill. I think this will result in stronger prints and will mask backlash problems that cause the infill to not connect * Variable speeds for infill/perimeter printing * 'full wall' option for top and bottom layers: no infill, only walls. Similar to that one Netfabb infill setting. It might already be possible to do this by setting the wall thickness on bottom and top to 2 meters. * control over wall thickness per layer: for instance 3-2-1 walls for first three layers to prevent steps in strength * control over where Z-moves are made, control over local infil density (locally increase strength/stiffness), in other words: smarter slicing for mechanical/cosmetic boundary conditions instead of just filling with a standard pattern. Hey - a guy can dream Other * A dialog for showing the mm of filament and hours of your life used (the values are already in the console) after slicing * [Already implemented ] A few comments in the gcode to show the settings that were used. It is a pita to retrieve for instance printing speed after slicing. Saving the settings to a separate file is good, but I would love to see at which settings I sliced after printing and I am terrible at bookkeeping * An option to introduce code after each layer or selectable layers. I am thinking about a bowden stress releave (move to 0,0 and let the filament compression relax), a filament swap (new color), etc. Edit: with replace you can do this I guess, but it might be a bit troublesome with a lot of layers. * [Already implemented ] A smartness increase on my side to understand the G-code replace function (its there along with start and end code) All these things aside (and even if they never make it!), Cura rocks! Keep up the awesome work. edit: I just read the Cura wiki again and noticed the 101 things page. Great stuff, some things I want are already possible ( https://github.com/daid/Cura/wiki/101-things.. .)

I actually bought the tape from that ebay link as soon as I saw is and it just arrived. Total cost incl shipping: 8 euro. I can get at least 10 beds covered from this one 50mm wide roll. Experience so far: * Harder to put on than the blue tape because it sticks better to the bed, it forms bubbles (compares to putting a screen protector on your phone) and if you pull to hard it deforms a bit. * Looks way better than blue tape * The first print (testing second now) looked perfect on the bottom side: mirror-like shine compared to a dull surface on blue tape * It seems to stick not as well as blue masking tape; that first print came loose and warped halfway during printing. However, aligning the bed a bit better (ie, pushing the nozzle closer to the surface) seems to fix it for now... waiting for the second print to finish. * Edit. Second print came off the bed halfway as well, but seemed to stick slightly better. Same corner released again, could be grease on the kapton or just the direction of most stress in the object. I just cleaned with ammonia and will try again ** Edit edit: I fixed it! I put blue tape on the critical parts of the build surface (the things that would unstick first) and left the kapton on the rest of the surface. I now have an unwarped parts with a 90% nice surface Googled a bit: * you're supposed to degrease the kapton to improve sticking * apparently, after a dozen or so prints, the kapton degrades and will stick less (I printed dozens of parts with one application of blue tape) * using a heated bed to 60 degrees will improve sticking, but I do not have a heated bed (and that wasn't needed with blue tape). I also found an interesting link on sticking on the Reprap forums: http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?184,60807,60807 I'll try to post pics later, but for now I am really happy, just hope my prints keep to the bed

You dont need that much friction to print, just dont expect the best prints

You can download and print belt tensioners, I couldnt get tension high enough either out of the box. Look for 'em on Thingiverse.com (search for ultimaker belt). You'll be amazed how much friction the steppers can overcome, but check if all axes are perpendicular and that pulleys are in line with the carriages (so the belts are straight).

I built this extruder as well and I am very happy with it. Running at 329 steps per E and have not seen any jamming any more. If the bowden tube pressure builds up too high the motor simply skips steps, relieving pressure. Great design! Just the metal parts are a bit expensive (59 ex shipping) but well worth it imo as an upgrade over the stock feeder.

If you have extruder issues with jamming, try calibrating the filament thickness and steps per E very carefully: too much extruded material will cause a pressure buildup in the bowden tube and the extruder will slip and strip the filament, causing a jam. Slower printing allows for a bit of extra plastic to push through during infills, and an alternative is to get a new feeder. I got the one by Ghagen which grips the filament so well that the motor skips steps without skipping; this lowers the pressure in the bowden tube and does not jam. The wobbling can be caused by slack belts (backlash) or dynamics problems where you make steps so fast that you get overshoots (and corrections). Printing slower always works.

Not to mention the printing speed, volume goes up with the cube of the length! They'd better use a massive nozzle for any performance at all...

Yup, I have a couple (mostly extruder problems); I'm working on getting a blog up, still have to sort the photos.

I have the same goo issue, but I am printing normally: I think it is the teflon I put in the thread that is discoloring and melting away (it should melt above 260, but cheap teflon tape is prone to melting at lower points). I've printed a couple of hours without serious problems right now (except for not being able to print large things due to extruder jammings). Sometimes a bit of PLA oozes out, but that is a veeery slow process. I just wipe it away every few prints. A better solution for this I think is to use high-temp sealant, I came across hints of stuff they use to seal spark plugs but I couldn't find an official name (loctite something, but the loctite site does not show high temp sealants). I also had the chronic undertemp: wasn't able to reach setpoints above 210 (setting 230 made it go to 220, etc). I fixed this by switching to Cura and have Cura update the ultimaker to Marlin. Works perfectly now, temp wise. I print at 205.

Unfortunately my platform has a slight concave shape so the center is 100 um higher than the edges :(

This is what I experienced. The problem is your plastic filament is too thick and it jams in the bowden tube. Even if you get a stronger extruder it might still strip. I had to take out my bowden tube and pull with a pipe wrench while having the bowden tube in a vise for 5-10 minutes to get the filament out. Get better (slightly smaller) filament, or measure and shave off the parts that are thicker. THat should solve your problem nicely. I've had it with the shipped ultimaker PLA (2.89 ish) and newly bought PLA (3.00). Also, isn't the inner diameter of the bowden tube 4mm? or only 3? I do seem to have some play left. Owen: I am often stuck in the loop of slipping - tightening - slipping - tightening - too tight. Filament deformation is definitely a problem; I hope my new extruder will be able to feed the filament with less pressure on it. Also, is it possible that the hot end of the tube is ever so slightly deformed that this causes a problem? I am weary to cut it as it already seems shortish as is.

I have the same problem as Baphi I think; sometimes during printing the friction of the filament in the bowden tube massively increases. I have to use pliers to push it through and afterwards printing continues, but jamming seems to occur more frequently over the course of a print, eventually stalling completely. The hot end of the bowden cable looks perfectly normal, no pluggin at all. However, sometimes even with the hot end detached it takes a serious effort to push filament through the bowden tube itself. Did anyone else experience that? I'm looking into getting a new extruder that can deliver more force, but I still feel like it should be possible to print with an unmodified ultimaker...

I ordered the parts for this extruder from Fabberworld, really hope this extruder fixes my problems. Right now I am struggling to even print the plastic parts for this extruder. Nice bootstrap problem

Makerbot Industries just released their new 3d printer which allows a dual extruder head. Dual color printing (or even dual material) is the future! Triple color coming right after, of course. Did anyone try something like that with an ultimaker? It seems to me that due to the separate extruder and the bowden cable there are hardly any space constraints in the print head and it should be easy to fit a second bowden cable/nozzle. The second extruder could be placed anywhere and IIRC the electronics already has a 5th unused stepper motor output. My feeling is that it can't be hard, but I am still waiting for my ultimaker so I cannot start fiddling yet Any thoughts on this?

Is this just a big demo of the various 3D printing techs or could this perhaps be a good chance to nab some cheap PLA/ABS?

I signed up, really curious now

Thanks for the answers. I've read more about the Ultimaker and the makerbot yesterday and I am getting more and more anxious to get mine! I would expect that due to the much smaller moving mass of the ultimaker vibrations will be much lower and accuracy thus higher, or is this offset by the 'problems' that the bowden cable causes? And on the line of moving mass: why are the fans mounted on the print head? Doesn't that cause disturbances as well when accelerating fast? Cant they be mounted on the baseframe? Did anyone design a printhead tracking air jet yet? Such a cool machine.