[Cura 12.07 - Released!]

A workaround was to use no infill and very thick walls. Because it's a long rectangular box that worked .

[Cura 12.07 - Released!]

That's a quick reply! Thanks . Is there any editor you can recommend?

[Cura 12.07 - Released!]

Hi, would it be possible to have my ultimaker lay down all the lines making up a box lined up into one direction? So that all the lines go into a horizontal direction (rather than a grid or a diagonal grid)? I know this is usually not what you would want because of strength etc. But I'd like to do a test that requires this .

[Post your latest print!]

a quick snap at what i am up to at the moment.

Basically ultimakering a city

House by House.

As my ultimaker prints out the next house, I build and prepair the next one, on the office computer upstairs.

what is really cool is, i have the printer in the celler and have a webcam hooked up and live feed being sent to my office computer upstairs.

So as I work and prepair more models, i can monitor the activity of the ultimaker very cool

So here is a quick snap. enjoy.... i hope ?

Ian

I have a similar setup with the webcam. What webcam software do you use? I now use yawcam but it's a little bit crappy so I'm looking for something more suitable. Any suggestions?

[Cura RC4]

I've used the project planner for a few times now. This time I wanted to print a small (50%) scaled version of the geared cube. However it seems like there is a drip of PLA on top of every printed part. I'm not sure what exactly went wrong as I wasn't there when it happened. Any idea how I can prevent this from happening? Thanks!

[next UM nozzle ? Wish List]

I'm not sure if this has been posted somewhere on the forum before but there is a Kickstarter project on a new (generic) nozzle assembly.

 

[Heated Fan vs Heated Bed]

I was wondering if it is possible and many even easier to use a 'heated' fan rather than a heated bed?

Does anybody have any experience with it or some arguments why it may or may not work .

[Questions on designing for the ultimaker.]

I've done a bit of testing with ABS and I still prefer PLA. ABS also has some interesting pro's though. It seems to flow/fill better. It's difficult to describe how exactly . Also it's not as glossy as PLA. The glossiness shows the imperfections really well. Also ABS has a few material properties that can also be beneficial like strength and temperature resistance.

The reasons I don't use ABS most of the times: It smells bad. It wraps; a lot. You can solve this by using a raft but it depends on the design of the part if it actually works satisfactory. It doesn't stick as good to the tape as PLA. Also it's easier to mess up the filament drive. It almost never fails with PLA anymore but with ABS it sometimes just strips. But maybe that's just a matter of experience with fine-tuning.

The only thing I had to do to make a file ABS ready is to change the packing density in Cura.

[Cura RC4]

I've found the first layer to be absolutely crucial - slight variations in filament thickness can make all the difference between a good first layer and a ball of fluff.

if it's going to fluff, I'd sooner it did it in the first few minutes while I'm watching, not 6hrs later and then subsequently ruin 3 out of 4 of my placed objects.

 

Well, I want to try if printing the first layer, or first few layers works better. Sorry that I did not make that clear. However, there is a chance that it will work worse then the current implementation. Something like this needs to be done anyhow for the gantry avoiding code (print 60mm of each object and then print the next 60mm, to avoid hitting the gantry of the X/Y)

My gut feeling tells me that it should work better. Let's say there is a slight variation in the distance between the tape on the bed and the nozzle compared to the first object (there is no such thing as perfect anyway, right? ). If I then have the choice between laying down a layer without perfect circumstances on a layer of tape or on a layer of PLA I'd prefer the latter. The printer is capable of recovering from imperfections in the PLA anyway for example when a little bit of material comes off the nozzle onto the print or when the tape is a little damaged.

Also I like to turn the Z-screw by hand a bit to finetune the first layer. When it's something like a thin walled cylinder I prefer it to "dig a bit deeper" into the tape compared to an area-filled first layer as the layers will then overlap and you get ripples which is bad.

Looking forward to seeing how it works. Cura also rocks without it .

[Cura RC4]

Today I've done some experimenting with the project planner.

When using the project planner is it possible to have the first layers of all objects laid down first before moving onto building the first object?

I would like to be next to the printer so I can make some on the go adjustments in case the first layer doesn't stick. I'm confident that from the first layer on this will go right.

Earlier today I executed a project planner exported print. This print consisted out of three tall objects (+- 8 cm height). After I came back I saw that one of the objects had magically disappeared from the bed. It was a few meters further on the floor. I think that it was hit by the gantry when the bed moved back up to start with the second object. Does project planner also take this into account and can I see if it's going to go right before printing?

Is it possible to adjust the filament flow during the print like you can also change the speed ? I use Printrun to run the print.

Thanks!

[Loud Fan]

Mine is also really loud. Looking for a replacement one.

Ultimaker should really provide a better quality fan.

[Next steps.]

Anybody have an idea? Thanks!

[Next steps.]

Thanks for the comments !

Today I've been looking into the limited quality I've been getting printing the transparent PLA.

When the Ultimaker extrudes at a limited pace the extrusion seems to be not working properly.

Two threads I've extruded with the extrude button. It extruded relatively slow but about the same speed as used in the print.

This is what the thread looks like when I extrude with force (manual feed or fast extrude)

This is what it looks like when extruding with motor slowly. I've been seeing the same pattern in my print which makes it look opaque rather than transparent (I know full transparency is difficult).

Also when speeding up the print the quality of the lines becomes worse.

I'm now working on a 17cm print which takes 20 hours (13 hours done now).

I've tried 210-250 C. I can't seem to find a big difference (it looks a bit worse on 210).

At the moment I can't put in another color to see if the same effect occurs with other colors to see if it's the nozzle or transparent pla specific.

Do you guys have an idea of what might be wrong here and how to fix it?

[Next steps.]

Hi all,

I've just completed the build of my Ultimaker.

I'm happy with the first results and now I'd like to optimize a bit. Some of the stuff I've printed looks great other stuff not so much.

I hope you guys have some ideas on how to improve. I think it's most software related stuff as the hardware seems to work just fine (also evident from some of the print results for as far as I can judge).

Here some of the results and observations.

Yoda printed by Printrun, Sliced by Netfabb, Standard hollow profile. Looks good I guess. (I've removed some stringing)

The Whistle printed with Printrun, sliced by Cura. Also looks good. (Also removed some stringing)

However when I try to print it with print run and slice it with netfabb things go wrong. I've tried different of the preset profiles. Also tried a custom 'hatched' profile.

This is a new fan cover also sliced by netfabb. Result is ok but could be better (see the 'cracks' around the holes and the junk on the surface of the 'legs')

I'm also trying to print a vase-like object from transparent PLA. I've used the Standard Quality Vase profile. The result is ok but I'm getting quite some junk on the surface. Especially on the inside of the surface. Is there a way to reduce this? Part of it seems to be caused by a sometimes weird jumping of the extruder van one circle more often than seems necessary.

I've tried several temperatures within the 190-240 range. I've been getting the best results at 230-240 as it flows nicer that way. I've been reading about people trying to bring down the temperature as much as possible. Why is this exactly?

I've also noticed that laying down the first layer works better when I stop the fan (with my finger; not ideal ). Is there a way to do this through the software?

I've done some tests with White PLA. It seems to be more difficult to print than Silver. Similar experiences?

Thanks!