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I believe Owens Corning also did some tests with 0.4mm, but our profile is indeed limited to 0.6 due to the CC print core. I would be hesitant to go below 0.4 because of the fibers that are added to the material, they may end up clogging your nozzle if you go too small.

It does. Can you upload a photo of your set up?

Great, very cool! Did you host the workshop? I'm also curious about those other fancy ornaments hanging in your Christmas tree 😛

Hi @asb, thank you for your responses and joining the conversation. We also regret not being able to deliver the aluminum bed. I don't think anyone was favoring this outcome. We tried our best, but after great initial results we could not overcome some remaining challenges and our experiences became unreliable and not up to our standards. We do believe this is a better route than the alternative, which is releasing a product which we can not guarantee its reliability and behavior. And we also did not want to postpone it inevitably, which would only add to the frustration too. We think an additional glass plate offers a similar functionality as an aluminum bed would have, all of our engineering material profiles are being tested on a glass plate and it provides a similar uptime as an aluminum bed would have. If you have no need of an additional glass plate, please feel free to reach out to me via a DM and we can talk over your specific situation and use case and find a common ground to move forward on. I'm looking forward to hearing from you. Once again our apologies for the inconvenience.

Long time no see @LesHall , how have you been?

Neo, joining the conversation is fine but if don't know the facts please ask what is what before making claims. All users who have registered for a build plate did receive an email, a blog post is shared with those recipients containing more information and we are updating the content regarding the Ultimaker S5 and adding an additional glass plate to the packaging. That is the decision that is made and this is the process that followed. And like I said, if you feel this direction does not work for you please reach out to me and we can see if we can find a common ground we can both move forward on.

No, it means that if you already have a second glass plate or a second glass plate is of no additional value to you as a user we can look into an alternative that does add value. I think it's good that we're open to conversation and permit ourselves a flexible and reasonable attitude in working towards a solution that works for both parties involved.

Hi @twuelfing, I'm sorry to hear that it looks like we won't be able to work it out. I've sent you a DM to sort out the details so we can move forward with your preferred direction.

Hi, perhaps you could try the following settings with (tough) PLA: Line width: 0.4 Wall thickness: 1.2 Top/Bottom thickness: 1.2 Speeds: 40 Jerks: 20 Horizontal expansion: -0.03 walls: 3

I will send you a DM. Thank you all for your time and understanding.

Thank you all for your responses. There is some truth to that statement but it's not entirely correct. One of the reasons to develop an aluminum bed is that it would make making large prints with an engineering material easier on such a large build volume as the Ultimaker S5 has. For the Ultimaker 3 it would indeed make little sense because the glass plate, heating and adhesion is sufficient for our range of materials. Without an aluminum bed you can still print all engineering materials, but you have to be a little bit more attentive to your use of adhesives and external factors. If you or anyone else needs any help with this, if you are experiencing difficulties with adhesion please get in touch with me and we'll make sure to help you out! The comment regarding future expandability does not fall or stand with this aluminum bed update. That concerns other projects. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask and I'll be happy to help. Hope you have a great day!

no problem, I'll send you a DM

Hi Rudy, thank you for your message. I think everyone would have loved to see a different outcome. But still I believe this is better than releasing a product we do not fully support. I will send you a DM and we can look into an alternative compensation that would also add value for you as a user. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

Hi @NBull and @ScanHD , thank you for your input. I'm sorry to hear you feel disappointed about the news. We also regret having to make this decision, but like I said earlier, the alternative of releasing an inconsistent and under-achieving solution would have been worse. I think @twuelfing is looking into the right direction. Although we should not ignore what is behind us, forward is the only way forward. I understand the feeling that a glass plate may not sound like a worthy replacement of an aluminum bed, but in terms of usability it offers similar uptime as an aluminum bed would and it can be used for all engineering materials an aluminum bed can be used for too. In theory an aluminum bed should last longer, but not all of our findings validated that assumption. So if this eventually would have been the case or not, that is difficult to say at this point. If you feel like you are missing out on an important feature and there is a specific application you needed it for, please reach out to me via a DM and together we can look at how to make it work for you. As it is stated above, newly sold Ultimaker S5's will be shipped with 2 glass plates. There is no intention of lowering its retail price. Thanks again for everyone's input. Hope you have a great day.

Hi @twuelfing, thank you for your response. Even though the situation may appear similar on the surface as in the past, it is different. Many lessons were learned in the meantime. Unfortunately, they could not prevent us from this outcome. Which we heavily regret. Perhaps a conversation to have in a separate thread, but what adhesives or precautions do you take when you print with ABS? It is recommended to use a thin layer of glue, not only to increase adhesion but also to protect the glass plate from chipping. An adhesion sheet could also help. Have you tried these methods already? What do you usually do, to ensure adhesion and protect your glass plate? Thank you for your time.

Hi, thank you all for your responses. It's good to keep the conversation open. @twuelfing, since we're talking about quite a number of glass plates we aim to have all additional glass plates shipped out before the end of Q1. You can use all of our engineering materials on the Ultimaker glass plate. Please visit our material resources page for the exact 3D print guidelines for the best results. Also all materials that are becoming available through our material alliance in Cura are being tested on our glass plates. If a material has no consistent or reliable adhesion, we will not offer it to our customers. It is true though that some materials are more forgiving than others, but that does not mean those others are unusable. @zungara, I'm sorry perhaps I don't understand. Why would a second glass plate be useless for you? An additional (aluminum) print bed would have provided you with a solution to easily swap build plates and increase your uptime, and use it for our engineering materials. We regret not being able to release this aluminum build plate, but an additional glass plate offers you the workflow an aluminum bed would have offered too. If there is a material you are printing with that is giving you difficulties in terms of bed adhesion we would be happy to help you. We've tested all of our materials and profiles on Ultimaker glass plates. @piphil, what kind of news/update are you expecting? You should be able to source adhesion sheets from your local reseller. Again our apologies for not releasing an aluminum build plate. It would have been all of our preferred outcome, but eventually we prefer not to release a product unless we fully support it and provides you with a reliable user experience. If you have any further questions, please feel free to ask!

Hi @joestefano , thank you for your post. With a second build plate you increase your uptime and are capable of printing the engineering materials that we offer. It is what the aluminum bed would have provided, and it is what this additional glass plate provides. I realize that releasing an aluminum bed would have been the preferred outcome of our developments, unfortunately, it did not offer the reliability we are after. And that is why we decided not to release it to our users. We feel that a second glass plate offers you the workflow that another build plate would have provided too. I would recommend to visit our material resource pages to find the 3D print guidelines that are required for our materials if you have not already. Our apologies for the inconvenience, and thank you for your time.

Yes, we totally agree. However, we rather go this route than release a product which won't bring you a positive user experience.

For your information, I also wrote a forum post about it in the 'Official news' section. Here is a link.

We have an update regarding the aluminum build plate which we would like to share with you. Because we still have not been able to get reliable and consistent results that are up to our quality standards, we have decided to cancel the release. This decision does not come lightly of course, but we felt that the alternative of continuous postponing would be more harmful. Why? During development we’ve faced a variety of challenges which took too long to overcome and the results did not always match our standards. We only want to release a product if we fully stand by it. What now? The cancellation of the aluminum bed leaves a gap, which needs to be filled. After all, there were supposed to be two build plates included with the Ultimaker S5. For that reason we will compensate everyone that purchased an Ultimaker S5 with an additional glass plate. With an additional glass plate you can increase your uptime by swapping build plates when a print is finished and start a new print immediately. You can also still use all of our engineering materials. Please visit our material guides for the proper 3D print guidelines and achieve the best results. So how can I claim my additional glass plate? Up until this point you’ve been able to register yourself to receive the aluminum build plate once it would be released. Everyone who did, will automatically receive a glass plate. You don’t need to do anything. If you already have an Ultimaker S5 but haven’t registered yourself yet, you can still do so via this link. New Ultimaker S5’s will come with two glass build plates. Looking forward. We’re always looking forward and exploring different innovative methods that can improve your user experience. Will there be an alternative build plate in the future? We don’t know yet. Innovations will continue, some research projects will succeed and others won’t. When we’re ready to bring something new to the market, you will be the first to know. Finally, I would like to thank you for your understanding and offer our apologies for the inconvenience. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them below. Thank you.

Could you add a screenshot?

Regardless of your budget between the two; if you are looking for maximum ease of use and reliability, due to features mentioned above the Ultimaker S5 passes the Ultimaker 3. Both are great machines, but the touchscreen, flow sensor, enhanced active leveling and future proof positioning would make the Ultimaker S5 my recommendation for you.

Thanks for the feedback guys! Much appreciated. I will pass it along and we'll keep it in mind for the next webinar. If you have any questions which weren't answered or perhaps you didn't ask, please post them here and we'll get them answered 🙂

We're not only trying to always make Ultimaker Cura better with the usual new features and improvements we build, but we're also trying to make it more pleasant to operate. The interface was the focus for the upcoming release, from which we would already like to present you the first glance. Because we're still working towards the stable version we would really like to receive your feedback! Do realize it's an early beta version and we can't guarantee the same print reliability as our stable versions. So, what is new exactly with Ultimaker Cura's new interface? - Based on user research we've build a smoother, more logical workflow - New user account control panel for plugins that need a login (like Cura backups) - Quick and easy access to the Marketplace The workflow In the new UI you can find three steps in the header: Prepare, Preview and Monitor. Prepare is where you configure your settings or profile, Preview shows you the layer preview and time specifications and in Monitor you can send and monitor your print via Cura Connect. The header contains of collapsible panels that don't take up any space or distractions when you are not using them. User accounts and Marketplace The Marketplace has received a more prominent location in the interface, because we believe this will be of great value in the future. We've also integrated a new module for user account control, which some plugins require as the Cura Backup plugin you may already use. And more will follow in 2019 🙂 Curious to give it a try? Download it here. And when you have, please let us know what you think below 🙂

Thanks! It was indeed a green screen. We're in the process of setting up a studio though, but we're not there yet 🙂 Did you like the webinar? Was it useful for you?