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albert

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  1. Hi Ian, Nice to see you're back! I think we have some kind of summer "lull" on the forum at the moment. 3d printing is a winter sport...summer weather = less time at the workbench! I really don't know whether UM has been able to cope with the problems of fast growth. many times one only sees the users with problems on the forum, not the ones where everything works perfectly. I believe the dust is settling on some of the recent upheavals. I hope they got the delivery times and quality control issues right by now, I do not follow these things with any kind of regularity. I think its more interesting to see what people are doing with their machines. I like the idea of having "work groups" where people get together and design a multirotor copter or some other device. Perhaps we will see more of that. I have found that I tend to use my machines "in bursts" . Sometimes I have nothing for them for a month, and then at other times everything is running 24 hours a day. My own summer project is a "hexacopter" drone for flying my Gopro camera. I shot a second hand machine on ebay, and I am modifying it at the moment, , making new parts for it on the printer. The 3d printing process is just perfect for that. The parts are lightweight and very strong. The recent progress is just amazing on these things. Matchbox sized electronics contain all the parts to make the machine hold its position in 3d space, using six GPS satellites to calculate its orientation in real time. Plus the sensors and number crunching to stabilize the copter itself and the camera underneath. We live in a science fiction world. And 3d printing is part of that, its also a thing from an SF movie!
  2. Recently 3dsystems has brought out SpaceClaim under yet another name: Geomagic Design Direct 2014. There is a 15 day trial , I downloaded this and when I tried to run it , DesignSpark mechanical would start. So I looked at the files and it seems that GeoMagic Design Direct and designSpark are one and the same program. In the folders the name SpaceClaim is all over the place. They did not even take the time to relabel the program files. Only the licence file is different between designspark and Spaceclaim. ( plus perhaps some parts of the program that are not installed). This means what I have seen several times on startup of DesignSpark is correct. For a split second just before the splash screen I saw a menu bar with a lot more functions.... I guess to make the test version run one has to de install design spark first. I did not try this as I am not sure its possible to roll back to the DesignSpark installation. If some of you have a second computer you might try this and see the glory of the full Spaceclaim program for two weeks. Perhaps we are going to see a major re release of Spaceclaim and they will dump the older version for a decent price. I dont know how much 3dsystems want for a full version, but I do not think they can undersell Spaceclaim at the moment. DesignSpark / SpaceClaim ROCKS. This is simply the best system I have seen so far. I recently did an "introduction to 3d printing" demonstration and the 8 year old son of a friend was in the audience. He downloaded DesignSpark a day after the show and is happily doing 3d designs now, after a few hints from me. It is that simple to use but the true power is under the hood and I have so far never been really stuck in a dead end when I did a design.
  3. With all due respect, I think they should get the kinks worked out to make the UM 2 into a reliable machine first before even thinking to add dual extrusion. When I read about all the problems I am glad I have two well working UM 1 machines.....
  4. designSpark/ Spaceclaim is my favorite. I have just done some tests with SolidEdge from Siemens, they have a 45 day test version out. Again, just too many things are burdened onto the user, the interface resists the flow of ideas, and it took me hours in SolidEdge to get something that takes me only minutes in Design Spark. BTW Geomagic seems to have switched over to the Space Claim kernel, too. Their GeomagicDesingDirect looks like SpaceClaim. Unfortunately there is no price tag but I guess it will be around 2400 Euros...otherwise space Claim would not be able to sell their original program anymore. Has anyone tried the fantastic reverse engineering possibilities they claim? Like reading in an otherwise useless stl or a point cloud from a scanner and turning it into a solid model that can be worked on? This would come in real handy.
  5. hi Ian, perhaps Petershausen might be good. Connection to S bahn and nice to live... http://www.immobilienscout24.de/wohnen/bayern,dachau-kreis,petershausen/mietwohnungen.html You would be only 10 kms from where I am...! Dont go into Munich, too expensive. There are many smaller towns not far from Kranzberg. All the best and let me know where you will be landing! Kranzberg http://www.immobilienscout24.de/Suche/S-T/Wohnung-Miete/Bayern/Freising-Kreis/Kranzberg?enteredFrom=one_step_search Albert
  6. Perhaps an occasion to see other members of the forum? Saturday May 3 19.30 Bad Tölz marionette theater Am Schlossplatz 1 D-83646 Bad Tölz Bavaria, Germany just 50 kms south of Munich. www.marionetten-toelz.de/News We have a nice auditorium that holds about 100 people. I will try to give an introduction to the 3d printing workflow using my 2 ultimaker 1 machines. Perhaps this is also an occasion to see the Bavarian Alps and the brand new Bad Tölz planetarium, where I will give a star show at 18 hs, just before the show in the theater which is adjacent to the planetarium. Albert
  7. Am Samstag, den 3. Mai 2014 um 19.30 veranstalte ich im Saal des Tölzer Marionettentheaters am Schloßplatz eine Einführung in die Techniken des 3D-Drucks. Marionettentheater der Stadt Bad Tölz Am Schloßplatz 1 83646 Bad Tölz Webseite www.marionetten-toelz.de Unter " News" findet man den Hinweis auf die Veranstaltung. Der Unkostenbeitrag beträgt 5 Euro. Mithilfe meiner beiden Ultimaker 1 Drucker versuche ich eine Vorführung des Workflows vom computergeneriereten Modell ( DesignSpark) zum fertigen gedruckten Objekt zu zeigen. Ebenfalls zu sehen gibt es eine kleine Galerie der bisher erstellten Modelle, Figuren und Objekte. Würde mich freuen, wenn sich ein paar der Forumsmitglieder dort einfinden könnten. Übrigens gibt es vorher ,um 18 Uhr, eine Veranstaltung im Tölzer Planetarium, das direkt neben dem Theater liegt. Beste Grüße an alle Albert
  8. I thought I would bring this into the CURA thread, because I think it is a completely new idea. At least I have not seen this before. The basic idea is to slice the object in such a way that the layers follow a 3d path. The z axis moves up and down during the printing of a layer. This way the fibers of the material follow the form. Might be a new way to get around overhangs and also might make parts that are much stronger. One could also imagine doing thicker layers without the ugly stairstepping effect on top layers with a bent surface. The results look good, especially for the crappy printer he uses in the video:)... Dont know if this can be done with an unmodified ultimaker mechanism. At least the head would have to be modified with more clearance and a longer nozzle. I also like the idea of doing a support structure, stopping the printer, putting in a release agent, and then continuing on the support layer. Food for thought! www.topolabs.com
  9. Servus, freut mich dass Du dabei bist. Auch ein Münchner.... Albert
  10. Hi Nicolinux, I have seen you are using Fusion 360 and are active on their forum. I just started to work on fusion and it is a promising effort to merge nurbs based modeling with solid modeling. But the interface resists me all the time. Especially when you come from DesignSpark where the interface usually suggests the right thing to do....do you get over that with some exercise? Plus the thing is extremely unstable and you lose work because of the cloud connection. If the program hangs you cannot do a successful crash recovery because the stuff takes an eternity to save. Did you get anything you came up with in Fusion successfully to the printer?
  11. Who was it? Bob Hope? When he came to the stage for his speech at the Oscar ceremony, he said: I thank my parents who made this possible... and my children who made this necessary... I also love this forum and i wish we could have a big meeting one day to see each other in person.
  12. Hallo Hoinz, tolle Modelle! also ich kann Dir vielleicht ein bisschen mehr sagen. Ich bin Puppenspieler und mache viele Köpfe etc. mit dem Ultimaker. Schau mal in die Galerie, da kannst Du Sachen von mir finden. Ich modelliere im Allgemeinen mit Sculptris oder zBrush. Damit kann man die Polygone gut unter Kontrolle halten. Mein längster Druck war 17 Stunden, und der Kopf der Figur füllte den Bauraum in der Höhe fast ganz aus. Ich versuche immer bei bzw unter 50 000 Polygonen zu bleiben. Mehr kann der Um ohnehin nicht auflösen, und mit den Methoden der Reduzierung in zBrush (Decimation Master) und auch in Sculptris kann man das Modell runterrechnen, ohne allzuviel Details einzubüßen. Manchmal ist es auch zumindest in meinem Bereich ganz interessant, absichtlich die Polygone sichtbar zu machen, das schaut in der Skulptur dann ähnlich aus, wie der " Schnitt" beim Schnitzen, wenn man die Figur nicht glattschleift, sondern die Facetten die beim Schnitzen entstehen, stehen läßt. Am besten ist es, das Modell sowieso erst mal in CURA zu laden, in der Vorschau sieht man dann sehr schnell, ob es irgendwo zu grobpixelig aussieht. Ich mach seit ca einem Jahr 3D Druck und habe mir bevor ich mir den Drucker zugelegt habe, erst mal einen Monat abends Zeit genommen und den ganzen Software- Ablauf durchgespielt, das geht ja kostenlos, da die ganzen Programme frei sind. Sozusagen Trockenübungen. Das eigentliche Wunder ist auch wirklich die fantastische Software, die 3D Drucker sind mechanisch ja nicht sooo kompliziert. Ich denke wenn man den gremlin drucken wollte, müßte man ihn in einer sinnvollen Weise auseinanderschneiden und dann in Teilen drucken. Die Stützmaterialien versauen einem doch immer die Oberflächen. Dieses Zerschneiden ist halt so ein bißchen wie früher bei der Anfertigung einer Negativform aus Gips, da musste man auch immer auf Hinterschneidungen achten, die beim Entformen dann hängen bleiben konnten. Beim Druck sind es halt die Überhänge, wenn ein Objekt in zu starken Winkeln ansteigt, so dass der Drucker dann die nächste Schicht in der Luft drucken müßte. Oder wenn Details zu dünn werden, dann kann die Wärme nicht weg und das Objekt fällt zusammen.
  13. Recently some videos have turned up on the new Conrad printer. The brand name is "Renkforce" which I think is connected to xlr plugs and the like. The thing looks extremely well, if not overbuilt. German over engineering at its best...so that got me curious and I had a look at the Conrad website. The thing has been on sale for only a couple days and it has gotten some devastating consumer comments already....just what I expected from Conrad. They have an inimitable way of goofing up on seemingly sure fire things. A couple of things are included in this printer that I think might be interesting on the UM wishlist. Automated bed leveling capable of compensating for a warped build plate, and a software trick to tweak the distance between extruder and printbed during the first few layers.
  14. Thank you for all the good hints on using the woodfill material. I am kind of lurking in the background on this because, as a puppeteer I would like to print some marionette related stuff with this material. But I hate complications and am just happy my printers work the way they are. Perhaps I might try to convert one of my 2 printers to woodfill "setup" with a larger nozzle. How does this stuff post-process? sand, paint? do wood varnishes or stains work on it? Is it any different from normal pla or just has a different "decorative" value?
  15. The question of CAD is so important, I can only emphasize that before you even think about getting a 3d printer, try and familiarize yourself with CAD basics. You can't build what you can't draw. My own "menagerie" of CAD programs consists of Cubify Design, Rhino and DesignSpark Mechanical. With these three I can get almost anything done. Plus the sculpture program Sculptris. Cubify can easily import Two dimensional DXFs , so if you want to make gears for instance you can use the inexpensive " gear generator" or a similar program to do the outline as a DXF and then pull this into a 3d shape. Cubify's big strength is that you have the history tree and can go back any number of steps if you want to modify your design after the first prototype. This has saved me a lot of hassle. Cubify is the watered down version of Alibre design, and lots of tutorials are available for that. Cubify also has a great assembly function if you have a multipart project and want to see if the parts work together. Takes some getting used to, though. I started with Rhino but found it impossible to tweak or modify anything. This is why I only use it now for freeform stuff that I cannot do anywhere else. Rhino is NURBS based so the strength is freeform surfaces. It has a good trial version that can save 20 times or so before locking up. This way one can try it under real conditions. DesignSpark is the watered down version of SpaceClaim and some important functions are missing. The mirror function for example, and some align and orient functions used for assembling parts. Otherwise its just great. I whipped up some pretty good models and had them printed out in just a few hours. On all these programs you will have to do some testing to tweak the stl export. One usually can modify the resolution of the stl. The compromise here is to get enough resolution to print a good model without visible "triangles", but not having a mesh that is so dense that it will cause problems with Cura or another slicer later on.
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