billdempsey

I've been waiting for a U.S. source for Ultimaker for what seems like forever. I just ordered an Ultimaker 2 from Maker Shed. I'll keep you posted on how long it takes to get it. The Ultimaker 2 fared pretty well in the 2014 Make 3-D Printer Guide. I hope it lives up to its on-paper potential. From what I've seen, it looks like every problem area in the old design was addressed quite well in this new design. Kudos to Ultimaker for listening to customers. Once the UM2 machine gets a second extruder/nozzle, it should be perfect for about 80% of what I print. Large items will still have to be done on my hacked CubeX Trio. Maybe UM can create a UM2XL with a 300mm cubed build area next. Then I can dump my CubeX entirely.

Yeah, I really do need a heated bed. Has anyone looked into or tried this kit on their Ultimaker? http://www.amazon.com/printer-Heated-Aluminium-Borosilicate-Reprap/dp/B00CW9NDJ2/ref=sr_1_3?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1383582934&sr=1-3 I already have this 12V 30A switching power supply: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009EIANT2/ref=oh_details_o01_s04_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I believe that would work for the platform, right?

Thanks for the suggestions gr5. I can see where making the brim thicker might help a lot. I'll try that. As it is, the part is so big that I can't fit a 20 line brim around it, so I had to reduce it to 6 or so. This is probably a stupid question, but how can I set the flow higher for only the first few layers? I only see one setting and it appears to set the flow for the entire print.

Oh sorry, yes, I've tried a brim a number of times. The brim sticks really well, but the part actually peels away from the brim and still warps. In other words, it leaves the brim attached to the tape, even though the part itself curls up. And yes, the brim distance is set to zero. I think part of the problem is that this particular roll of red filament from UltiMachine is too wet. In order to get it to flow right, I have to print it at 245C, which is crazy for PLA. Since those are ABS temperatures, it seems to be warping like ABS.

No, the design needs to be solid on the back because of the wiring and solar cell electrical contacts inside. This folding panel will produce 4 AMPS of current, which is enough to seriously hurt somebody. Anyway, the glue might not be thick enough or the cheap mirror glass I'm using might be crap. I'm not sure. I plan to try printing on glass again with different glue when I have time. When I do, I'll follow up with a report. This is just a band-aid fix, really. What I really want is a real kit for a HBP. Having prints stick perfectly and then simply pop loose when the bed cools is just so appealing.

I went back to using the blue tape and added clips along the outside edge of the tape after stretching it as tight onto the acrylic surface as I could. I finally got one of the flattest prints I've been able to get using this setup. Non-solid infill isn't an option, as the walls of this part are only 3mm thick and are required in order to maintain torsional stability. It's basically a very shallow box. The print from the tape is on the left below. The print on glass, using PVA glue is on the right. I'm wondering if I should have mixed the glue stronger than 3 to 1. I really liked that smooth bottom surface. I wish I could get the same print surface that I have on my CubeX because hairspray works crazy well on that surface. It seems like a ceramic surface. I printed a skull overnight on the CubeX and had a hard time removing it this morning. Unfortunately, the tolerances are too tight on this solar cell casing to switch to using the CubeX for printing them, at this point. I designed it to adjust for the print error on the Ultimaker, because I had 5 lbs. of red filament for the Ultimaker. I'd have to re-work the model measurements by trial and error to get it just right on the CubeX. Plus, the CubeX version of red is more like red-orange. Yuck. Just for fun, here's the skull I printed overnight on the CubeX.

Still trying. Used a 3 to 1 mixture of PVA glue on my last attempt and the model still curled up at the corners. I'm trying to figure out what to try next. I may return to using tape and bind the tape down with some reinforcement of some sort. I sure wish they'd hurry up and release that HBP + gantry for the Ultimaker 1. I need it bad. (That's what she said...)

I got the glass installed and started up a print. I tried hairspray on the mirror first. Unfortunately, it popped loose about 75% into the print, so I'm using PVA glue on the next attempt. The print was ruined, but I have to say, the bottom surface of the print was beautiful and shiny.

I use 3" wide rolls of Scotch blue tape that I get on Amazon. The tension on a part that large and flat is just too much for the tape to stay stuck to the acrylic. I actually grabbed a square of mirror glass real cheap at Lowe's yesterday that I'm going to try. If the PLA heat doesn't make it shatter, I'll use that until the kit appears. If it shatters, I'll order a square of borosilicate glass. At this point, I think glass + PVA glue is my only hope of getting a flat print that large until I can get a heated bed.

Thanks for the link gr5. I'm thinking about the heated bed for PLA and perhaps nylon. I don't mean to be overly pessimistic about the time frame for the UM1 kit, but they've been talking about releasing a heated bed kit for the UM1 since I ordered my UM1 nearly a year ago. Maybe I can get by for a few months just using a glass plate. I have some PVA book binding glue and hairspray I could try on it. I've been attempting to print cases in PLA that are 170mm x 150mm x 12mm tall for holding solar cells and blue tape on the acrylic platform just doesn't keep it flat, no matter what I clean it with. The casing warps at the corners and pulls the tape right off the platform.

I saw somewhere that the best setup for smooth prints uses a thin ceramic glass (borosilicate, Pyrex, etc) print plate on top of an aluminum heat plate with a silicone heater under the aluminum heat plate and an insulator under the heater. The sandwich they described looked like this: glass surface (possibly swappable) aluminum plate silicone heater (faster heating) insulation plywood gantry platform Does that sound about right? Anyway, if somebody is selling a complete kit like that with thumb wheel bed leveling designed in, I'd pay $400 (possibly more) for that setup if it included mosfet-based, UM-controlled switching electronics, a power supply, and instructions.

So, the USB problems people keep having are a limitation of the Arduino? It seems strange that the Ultimaker (2) can't talk reliably to the computer over USB when ink jet printers, laser printers, hard drives, and many other devices have been doing using USB reliably for over a decade. I'm disappointed that the UM2 will be SD only. Sounds like the only direct print option would be to use a Raspberry Pi and Octoprint? How would the RasPi talk to the UM2, in that case?

A good glue for glass printing, that is also available pretty cheaply, is PVA book binding glue. I'm guessing you would need the PVA glue mixed slightly stronger for ABS. On my other printer, I just spray Aqua Net on the glass plate and it holds PLA prints down pretty well. Using the glass plate + Aqua Net is much easier than the blue tape I'm still using on my Ultimaker. I think I'm going to follow the path you guys are taking and go get a glass build plate made for the Ultimaker to hold me over until the replacement gantry with HBP is released in a few months. The bottom surfaces on the stuff I print on the glass plate look so much nicer on my other printer. Plus, the PLA sticks better on it. I'm not sure why I've waited so long to replace that acrylic surface with glass.

That looks pretty interesting, indeed. The web cam host would be great for remote monitoring, too. Does that fork include the latest version of the Cura slicer? I'm spoiled by that insane slicing speed. When I use KISSlicer on my CubeX now, it feels like watching grass grow. Cura has to be around 60-100 times faster. It's also easier to get high quality results, from my experience. There are just too many knobs that have to be set exactly right on KISSlicer in order to get the same quality of output.

It's probably a demo unit used for taking orders. That's pretty common in retail. They aren't actually selling that unit. They're just showing it to people. It's smart business to get a demo unit into the hands of your retailers/distributors prior to official release.

That's good news! Another question... Does the UM2 use the same standard filament as the original? 3 mm? PLA, ABS, Nylon, etc?

My thoughts on UM2: Mainly interested in the heated glass print bed and hopefully pre-installed & calibrated dual extruders. I'm also happy to hear about the more stable z supports. The z instability has been a perpetual issue with my old UM, even after I finally got everything else working perfectly. The humidity changes here are constantly twisting my build plate around, requiring constant leveling. I leveled the build plate on my other printer once, in April. I had hoped for a larger version, along the lines of 300x300x300 build volume, but at least it's a little bigger than the old one. Like others, I would have preferred removable side panels, but the new case makes the unit look a LOT better overall. So, I still count it as a plus. I'm glad the hot end has a third fan for active cooling of the filament path above the hot end. I've been cooling that area on my old Ultimaker for months and haven't had a clog since I did it. In fact, the fan duct I designed takes the hot air from above the hot end and directs it onto the build platform, which has helped greatly with warp on large flat pieces. Unfortunately, this setup isn't a good idea for bridging, so I have to design items without bridges. The tradeoff is worth it to me for dependable printing with no plugs. The nice thing about the UM2 design is that you covered all of those issues, thanks to the heated build platform, plus the platform fans, plus the cooled filament path. That new print head is a great new design which I know is going to help a lot with dependability. Nice job! I hope you can still print directly from Cura using a USB cable. Using an SD card reminds me of the 1980's era of transferring files between computers using floppy disks. I can't imagine having to walk an SD card back and forth to my HP paper printer, so when I got into 3-D printing, I was quite surprised that so many people think SD card shuffling is a desirable feature in a 3-D printer. I guess it would be good if your PC is unstable and crashes a lot. Mine never crashes and it's running 24x7x365. So, one click print convenience is far more important to me. Last thought: I sorely wish the UM2 was available for sale here in the U.S. The 1895 euro UM2 printer begins to approach $3,000 here because of the poor exchange rate and the extra large shipping costs. The Solidoodle 3 has somewhat similar hardware specs, including an aluminum heated print bed, but it only costs $799. The print quality is likely lower (& slower,) but that's a huge price difference. You could buy 3 x Solidoodles for the same price of one UM2 and print 3 things simultaneously. I like my old Ultimaker (now that it's been working perfectly for a few months,) but that's a lot of money for a single extruder printer with a medium build volume.

Since the UM2 is supposed to be more plug-n-print than the previous generation, will there ever be an option to order a pre-assembled UM2 with the dual extruders already installed and calibrated? If so, would this be available two or three months down the road or more like a year?

One of the most frustrating things about Thingiverse for non-techies is the fact that a large number of the models were designed for SLS or photo resin printing, but they aren't marked in any way. They just don't work when you try to print them using FFF. Most of us who create models easily recognize when somebody else's model just won't print right using FFF and we skip them. As more laypersons get into 3-D printing, though, they will need significant guidance in this area. Despite what the popular media portray, you can't just print whatever you can imagine using FFF. There are physical limitations, particularly on sealed objects which need to be hollow, where you can't remove the internal supports. For example, try to print a 50 mm completely hollow cube with thin walls. The top of the cube will be melted all over the inside, not on top. My suggestion would be to mark objects with different "printability" ratings. For example, there could be ratings like - "FDM/FFF with no supports," "FDM/FFF with external supports," "FDM/FFF with internal and external supports," and also perhaps "photo resin or SLS printing only." Perhaps users who print the object could certify that the object successfully printed without supports by checking a "verified" box next to that category.

Just thought I'd pop on to give an update after 5 months of using the CubeX Trio. If I had to summarize in one sentence, I'd say, "the honeymoon is over." The printer is mechanically excellent, but the cartridge system completely ruins the ownership experience. It's not even the cost which is an issue (although that is one contributing factor for most people.) It's the reliability of the cartridges. I've tried a total of 8 different cartridges on my printer and every single cartridge has jammed at some point, usually ruining a long print in the process. In every case, I've had to cut the cartridge open, pull the filament out, and feed it from outside the printer. I figured they would fix this quickly. I was wrong. It's been 5 months and the only thing they did was make it even more difficult to use third-party filament. Now they check constantly during the print to make sure a valid cartridge is still inserted, then they write the remaining filament quantity back to the cartridge chip and stop printing when it hits zero. Even worse, after 5 months, the cartridges still suck. They've also been difficult to get due to ongoing supply problems. People have figured out how to use KISSlicer with the CubeX to get much better prints, but with the cartridges jamming constantly, it doesn't really matter. The printer is an ongoing pain in the azz. I'm considering keeping it for the mechanism and then gutting the electronics to turn it into an open source printer, otherwise you may see it on eBay in another month or two. The bottom line: Until they abandon the cartridge system, I don't recommend buying this printer. Period. I hope this advice helps somebody else avoid the frustration of owning one. On a happier note, after I bought another bunch of replacement parts and swapped out a lot of stuff on my Ultimaker, it has been chugging away for a couple months now without any problems. I'm guessing this is the experience many others have had right out of the box. Better late than never, right?

Oh, btw, there is an excellent blog which is a source of lots of CubeX information: http://cubex3dprinting.blogspot.com/ Check it out. You'll find a lot of solutions and advice there. Also, here is the link to the heated print bed: http://www.grmproducts.com/CubeX_Heated_Bed_System.html

Sorry for the late response. I don't check these forums very often anymore. My first advice is, don't follow their instructions on the amount of glue. They say put three layers. You only need a thin layer and it needs to be tacky right before the print starts. People also say not to squeeze the bottle but just hold it upside down for 30 seconds to let some glue soak into the sponge, then move it around on the surface. Personally, I started getting odd results too, so I abandoned the glue in favor of blue tape sprayed with Aqua Net hairspray. Like the glue, the hairspray needs to be tacky right before the print starts. It can't be runny. For ABS, I'd use the popular slurry mixture a lot of people are using. They dissolve scraps of ABS in acetone to make a milky fluid which they brush onto the surface before printing. I haven't tried this myself, because I don't use ABS. Eventually, I plan to buy the heated bed kit being sold for the printer by a third party. It includes everything you need, plus great instructions for installation. It's a little pricey, though. ($599 or so?) People are having much better results using the heated bed (as one might expect.) I'm also thinking of making magnetic doors for the openings to keep the chamber warm. As you probably know, right now, there is a shortage of filament cartridges for the CubeX. So, in order to conserve the cartridges I have left, I decided to get my Ultimaker working again. (I have 40+ lbs of unused filament for the Ultimaker taking up space in my office.) So, I ordered $600 more in spare parts and they arrived yesterday. So, today I'm once again fiddling with my Ultimaker. Wish me luck.

The temperature sensor for the heater block and the mini circuit board from the top of the print head are the main two I need at the moment.

Bumping this topic because I'm still looking for a U.S. source for parts, too. My Ultimaker has been non-functional and taking up space on a table (again) for a while now, but I hate the idea of buying parts from the Netherlands again. Plus, the parts I want are never listed in the shop, so I would have to do even more email exchanges with support. That's a frustrating experience in itself. Bought this thing 7 months ago and it worked a total of about 6 weeks out of that time. When it works, it produces good quality parts. It just rarely works. It would be nice to have two printers functioning, but like I said, getting parts from the Netherlands is a pain in the wallet and a big hassle.

The exchange rate between the Netherlands and the U.S. makes the price very competitive between the two printers. If they listed the prices in U.S. dollars, like 3DSystems does, it would be more obvious to people that they're similarly priced. When you see 1700 euros, it translates to nearly $2300 U.S. dollars (exchange rate is 0.75 to 1.00). The CubeX is $2499 U.S. That's pretty similar pricing, in my book. It was worse for me because I spent hundreds of additional $$ on parts which were destroyed because I followed the very out-of-date assembly instructions on the web site to the letter. Despite it being their fault, they charged me for the replacement parts to fix everything that got damaged. Eventually, after I complained very publicly on 3Ders.org about my horrific support experiences with Ultimaker, they suddenly offered to replace the motherboard which had been faulty from the start. Then, they offered to replace the Ulticontroller, which displayed gibberish on the display when printing via USB. The replacement worked a couple of days and then started displaying gibberish, too. Now, I have two unusable Ulticontrollers in a drawer. At least I got another week or two of printing out of the Ultimaker before the temperature probe (or the small circuit board on the print head perhaps?) stopped working. The printer would say it was heating. The temperature shown never changed. Then, the print head would start smoking from overheating. At that point, I just unplugged the printer and stopped using it. Until there are replacement parts available in the U.S., I'm not going to mess with my Ultimaker anymore. Paying $40 to ship $15 parts is just mental. In the meantime, if I start up a project that needs stepper motors, my Ultimaker will likely be gutted for parts.