jameshs

@ultiarjan great news on the s3 - I built an s2 a few months ago and am still playing. my favourite pathway is inventor or fusion, use the free HSM to generate gcode and then use gcode sender. the great thing is that the same model in inventor or f360 can be used to generate an stl or cutting gcode which still amazes me - same model, and additive or subtractive manufacturing - wow! look forward to seeing what you are producing - I am still resolving dust and noise, which make my UMOs sound quiet

The rumour is that they are in the process of killing off makerbot because it has eaten into their mojo sales - where they make money from servicing. You can't compare the 2 - mojo lays down a raft on each print, on each singe use print tray (so no bed levelling - they just slather it with a removable raft) - it has a closed chamber, which is good for warping etc and a crazy small nozzle size, support material and layer height. People I know who have one suffer heavily from the rental and material cost and never use them to do their own prototyping, but only for orders. They do say that the quality is crazy good compared to their other fdm, but then this is a commercial fdm and they do not say that the quality is worth the difference in price - so mojo is being eaten by the desktop fdm and just fighting back. It is like comparing an x-carve cnc to a commercial one - i.e. apples and oranges, and UM should be proud that they are scared and having to compare their machine to a UM, no matter how badly set up! Everyone can produce a crappy print - to produce a good print every time takes skill, and that is what everyone is chasing. Mojo comes close because of the closed system, but boy do you pay for it, whereas I can get (what I think) is an amazing print from a UMO which is a rickety wooden frame and has things like cheap glass plates clipped on with whatever filament I throw at it ....... but I have also seen crappy prints from the same machine.!

Personally, unless you want to churn stuff out, offer what you think is the best product for you while satisfying a need in the purchasing population! I bought my printer for prototyping my own design stuff and learning. I went onto XYZ and 3dhubs and only got crazies from XYZ so dropped it. 3dhubs was really interesting - and I loved rising to the challenges that they set - like printing the vertical fairphone case and then going into 'production'. But I always saw these commissions as a way of paying for filament and using the spare capacity of the printer, rather than as a business - if I had back to back orders and had to live off the printing side then it would be very hard - a fairphone case was paid at 12 euros and were extremely tricky to print, sometimes needed cleaning in the model and then post processing and packaging so I stopped after 15 of them. Other orders I used to get 1 or 2 a week, but they are always really challenging prints - either time, quality or cost expectations. They taught me heaps about printing (some that I thought would just fail came out brilliantly, and some that looked easy had challenges) but the time spent in analysing items that came in started growing as the quality of models that people throw around reduced. Then more hubs came on line that were lower priced and so the projects (apart from repeat work) started to be the ones that had been refused or mucked up by other hubs, so delivery timetables really short. So I have paused 3dhubs for 6 months as I also started to resent the fact that the printer (now printers) were not available for my own use, and just when I had changed nozzles to do one thing an order for something else would come in and take priority But I rapidly found that my own architectural clients liked having 3dprinted stuff to look at so the printers now work harder and 'earn more' as tools in my daily activity. I think setting up a business to 'print' for others would be a hard one to make a living, but setting up to design and prototype and educate companies who want internal facilities would be ok. IMO the printer and consumables are the smallest cost, the overheads by far the biggest.

It is a 2 not a 3 though - tweak rather than overhaul? - still, I am actually someone who likes evolution rather than revolution, but curious where fdm will find the next killer change and love the look of some of the multi print nozzles like the diamond, but honestly only have a need for it occasionally. The things I still drool over are higher temp hot ends that print reliably with interchangeable nozzles - but I have 2 of those in the UMO. Still looking forward to the announcement though!

Agree that you should be charging for the printing skill, but not for babysitting. I charge depending on the complexity of the project and how much of my printing skill it uses, but then allow for the fact that I am doing something else while it is printing. I also allow for a return on investment charge for the printing, and the hours I have put in to managing to print at all! So there is a fairly high set up of about UKP25 and then I work out how many hours to handle the part and clean up and then packaging and delivery - I rarely think too hard about the plastic volume as I think that is a fairly small element in the whole process. I am never cheaper than the local hub, but almost always cheaper than shapeways unless it is a really small item.

@izzy I agree it is bulky and I find the look a bit strange - but it is a very popular choice amongst recipients.

The colourfabb pale gold is really easy to print with - a nice material - their traffic red is a good red too.

Hi @izzy I did use glue - it is hard to find one that sticks. Tried gel superglue - nothing! Tried hot melt glue - nothing, ended up using araldite - but have to be careful in the application as any on the hinge itself will cause a change in the flexibility of the hinge! How did you print with filaflex - using the bowden drive of a UM2 and a standard nozzle? - I can get ninjaflex to work on the UMO but have not tried filaflex so might give that a go if you managed on a UM2! Great to chat about these with UM owners as up to now I have been the only one Just beginning to play with thermoforming gauntlets ......

Hi @izzy I have used ninjaflex and semiflex. with ninjaflex you can more or less use the stls as supplied, but with semiflex (which I found easier to print with) I had to re-model all the hinges as it is considerably stiffer. Let me know how you get on. PS - make sure that the supports is only on the base of the finger - not in the hinges and any other holes! - I used S3D and 2mm supports which I placed manually.

@zxen if you have a UMO it is a 5 minute operation unless something is different on yours?

You can just replace the nozzle - I do it on a daily basisi & posted a youtube video (search nozzle ultimaker) You can use dual on a UMO+ but need a second piwer supply (so I believe) as the hb and one nozzle use all the available power.

nozzles clog - it is the nature of the beast. A UMO is an 'experimental' machine and you are expected to tinker with it to keep it in tip top form - I always have spare nozzles so that when they block (which is normally users/filament related) then I swap it out, keep printing and refurbish the old nozzle (actually I have 8 nozzles as I also drill them to different sizes). I have been really gentle with my original UMO, and bought a second hand one and with a bit of maintenance and care they work flawlessly. Obviously UM got some early things wrong on yours, but these are complicated machines and do occasionally need a few small parts replaced, which is why spares are available and this gorgeous community will help you out. I don't know of any printers that work flawlessly without maintenance, and many the parts are way are expensive (think takerbot) and impossible for the 'user' to fix. You bought a really good tinkerer's machine, so I guess you should expect to have to tinker PS - in my opinion, for what you get (and I own loads of machine shop tools) I am still amazed at how good value a printer is and what it can do for the price - original purchase and consumables.

Hypodermic needle - get them on ebay they are stiff enough to clear a .4mm hole (I normally warm the nozzle first). Nozzle clogs are not common (depending on the filament and if it is left hot for a while). I would think the dissolvers that you are looking at will attack the nozzle more than the plastic. Stick to mechanical removal - needle, and then atomic while the nozzle is off. heat the nozzle and push filament in to test that you have cleared the opening.

The main part of the flexy is printed in PLA - just the joints in rubber. Semiflex works well in bowden - but try a sample size first (I have a UMO I think if some people can't afford materials there may be other volunteers who help, but otherwise yes it is fully voluntary - and I find that the postage is actually the most expensive part! Keep up the good work! James

PS - in the meantime play around with some of the other designs - I seem to be asked for a different one each time, and they all have assembly/hardware quirks. The Flexy hand being one of the most requested and the trickiest because of the flexy hinges - have redesigned them for semiflex on the UMO as even though I use ninjaflex on the UMO it is 'temperamental!' James

love the change of e-nable to e-noble I would send it off without foam - foam is going to be fairly user specific (have a look for Dr Schoal foam on amazon). Looks like a really nice print. Be aware they are a voluntary organisation (I have been making hands/arms for about 18 months) and so response can be a bit slow/flaky, but keep at it! James

Really nice interview - brilliantly explained.

really nice clean store - love that some of your complex stuff still comes out of UMOs wish you lots of success - great move.

worth noting I have not levelled my UMO bed for nearly 10 months and it is not just luck - I have 2 of them - and swap nozzles around all the time - great machines. No hbb - I have bought the upgrade, just need time to install, and I print woodfill, PLA ninjafex and nylon bridge, with XT possible on painter tape (which I keep under my glass build platform) But I think it is a tinkerer's machine, I keep it oiled, clean and I love it! (them)

but with that huge heat sink around it you should be fine ..... but it would be interesting to know if you get a saggy drain

@GuyS great use of a printer - and especially for your first use! - leave it as PLA and see what happens - it is way hardier than most people think and if you are running the shower that hot .... to stop it cracking just thicken up the outer ring and the inner ring and possibly the top - you will get to a point where it is mechancally strong - I hang off PLA handles (chin-up) that I have designed on a daily basis (they are now 2 years old) - it is really strong stuff!

Have used it for over a year (personal) as I was having trouble with some of the models sent to my hub. It sorted them and I have not used Cura since. Love the ability to place a small amount of support where I want it and not where I don't and is it very easy to remove. It is not perfect, but IMO worth the money if your intention is to improve your control over your printing.

ha ha - no problem - let me know if you need helping out - I am in London and have 2 UMOs James

Hahahah - some of us love the UMO and do not use tape! - I have had the HB upgrade in a box for 6 months and have not yet installed it because I don't need to (it is for using XT) and I print accurate PLA rints across the whole width of my buildplate with no problems. Agree blue tape is more maintenance - I have it on my original platform if I need it, and 3mm glass on top of that - with a small 3mm 'fooler' for the limit switch - so swapping from one to the other is a 10 sec job, as is swapping out glass build plates when I want to re-coat with PVA (once in a blue moon) - If I had the money for a UM2 I would buy 2 UMOs - filament feed - what is that - I have hands and a great big gear wheel!, and a feeder that just pulls whatever I throw in it, including ninjaflex, nylon - high temps don't deform the extruder etc - oh, and interchangeable nozzles (which I do weekly) and dual extrusion ...... but this is not a pissing contest . So the UM2 was a big leap forward in some respects, and back in others. The great thing is that the machines address the needs of different user groups, and UM is fantastic for still supporting them both ... unlike takerbot.

I have 2 UMOs and no HB and have not used tape for a year with PLA - just dilute PVA glue on glass. I do keep tape under the glass for when I need to print XT which I think prefers a HB