[Some questions before I buy...]

I've been doing test prints and stuff lately. If you have a model you'd like printed I can give it a go sometime this week or next weekend if you want. Maybe that would give you a better idea?

Thanks very much for the offer, but I think I'm sold anyway.

I am curious though...since the limiting factor for xy resolution is the thickness of the plastic material (if I understood correctly), then is it possible that thinner plastic becomes available in the future? Would this allow for greater xy resolution, and if so, would this be something a current Ultimaker could be made to use or would it require all new engineering?

[Some questions before I buy...]

As mentioned above, it needs some technical skills to build this printer. But the kit is quite well engineered and you can't do too much wrong.

I think one of the biggest advantages is its fast evolution in the open source community. Therefore the development goes on and will increase.

It took me just five calibration prints until the 0.04mm layer height worked. If you have patience you'll be able to get the same results.

For your application at a scale of 25 to 50mm You have to be aware, that there is always the visibility of the layer and the geometric resolution is limited by the process itself.

The minimal xy resolution for details is about 0.3mm everything below that will be smoothed by the tip of the print head. The layers are built with a plastic string which always forms an outline with rounded corners of about 0.15mm radius.

Maybe post a picture of what you like to print.

Michael

Hi Michael,

The link I posted previously (http://www.hive76.org/insane-3d-printing-resolution-ultimaker-under-the-micro) is the detail level I'm after. In the picture of that yoda figure in the link the xy resolution doesn't look nearly as course as .3mm so maybe I'm not understanding what is meant by xy resolution.

[Some questions before I buy...]

I know you gave an idea of the size of the models you are looking to print, are they for professional or personal use if you don't mind me asking? Maybe I'll be able to offer better advice if I know more about what you are wanting to do.

Just as an example, I have a scale model of a rally car I built that came without a driver and navigator figure. I have created a 3D scan of the seats in the car and with my rudimentary knowledge of 3D programs have designed figures for both that I would like to be able to print and use in the model. These would probably be about 30mm figures if standing.

It's not for professional work, but at the same time I want comparable results to the rest of the models I use (which is why Ultimaker is appealing to me, given its ability to get such fine detail prints). I don't care if it takes 20 hours to print a model.

Thanks again for the info.

[Some questions before I buy...]

The answer to your question is really going to depend on your personal level of technical know-how and how much free time you have.

Thanks for the answer Tom. It's posts like this that have made me a bit apprehensive about jumping in right now however.

It's not just a software issue (which I'm more comfortable dealing with) to get results like http://www.hive76.org/insane-3d-printing-resolution-ultimaker-under-the-micro then?

[edit]

It's posts like this that terrify me: http://groups.google.com/group/ultimaker/browse_thread/thread/b8a6bdf43b803c73

[Some questions before I buy...]

I've been following 3D printers for a little while now and am almost at the point where I'm ready to jump in, but I do have some questions that I can't find answers to...

Most of my plans for 3D printing are for scale model/miniature work (models between 25-50mm big). It looks like, out of all home 3D printers currently available, Ultimaker is the champion when it comes to printing fine detail work. What I'm interested in is what kind of work is necessary to setup the machine for printing in such fine detail assuming it arrives at my door today? I get the feeling from looking at as many posts as I can that it's not going to be as simple as "open box, plug in machine, print in extreme detail right away". Is this something that is going to take a whole bunch of tinkering and/or extra parts to achieve?

Thanks in advance for any information.