jameshs

where are you located?

Is that a raft that you are printing - looks like that states line spacing at 3? what is it like further up the model?

each filament has a slightly different temp profile - worth running these 'problem' filaments at a slightly higher temp to start with, and sometimes a different flow.... then set up a profile and write on the box. Some filaments need more babying than others and I tend to use those up as soon as I can - and/or use them in a larger nozzle for 'drafts'.

be careful what you wish for - with this years releases it could be a completely re-engineered cardboard box, more in line with the 'branding' that you can't get into, and does not have a printer in, because that will be developed and released when it is ready ...... you could not make it up (this is only a gentle ribbing - no offence intended!)

I use revit - so like you have this 3d model in the system - and it has taken a while to work out how to export the model and then 'wrap it' to create a single solid stl that can be printed - and in the software I often have a 'printing' set that I use to extract some of the information like this; ..... and this and am developing a new arm for e-nable

@Sandervg My go-to machine for getting things out of my head and into my hands! Awesome! You are like a contractor or a decorator? Something like that - I am an architect

I use it to make things I want now or can't buy - at the simplest I make bicycle clips (hard to get inf flaming pink) watch straps (ninjaflex) wedges to go in a rowing boat/rowing machine to raise my heels by 10mm and stop muscle cramps, handles to hold up a chin-up bar, scale models to show builders how I want a staircase built, scale models of houses for clients - oh, and hands for children via e-nable. My go-to machine for getting things out of my head and into my hands!

@sanderVG what a great project. Can you buy PPP filament?

I think that is a bit over ambitious! This about the width of your nozzle and then the width of apiece of text and you are right at or over the margins. A few options - scale the whole thing up in Cura - to more or less the width of the buildplate - then the letters are a reasonable size. The one I would do would be to generate a letters in the CAD programme at different sizes and print that - to see what size is the most successful. I think I would not use the varying height of extrusion to begin with. to make it easy you could use numbers that reflect the letter height - eg 10 12 14 16 which are actually the heights - and then is is really easy to work out which height is working the best. Then think abut sans serriffed (eg aerial) - (the twirly bits) as the serrifs are very small and demand a change in direction for the printer. Then set your speed slow (30 or less) and your temp to the lowest possible 208? and see what happens. You will discover that you have to approach this king of thing gently to find out what the capabilities are, and the one you have started with is very small! sneak up on it James

Fusion 360 and Inventor - the power under their hoods is phenomenal - you can take a design and print it or run it through an add on and mill it (the new addition to my printers is a shapeoko!) and parameters are wicked - not only in the initial design, but then for updates of it or links to other designs - you can really leverage the data.

I have read that too much eat above the melt zone can cause blockages as the slightly softened filament can bulge and block. - a few hours into a print is a sign of what I think is called heat creep - try out of the box and see if it still fails. If you are using PLA then no heat needed - I don't have a heated bed or box for either of my prnters and PLA (colorfabb) prints with what I still think is superb detail. Take the bowden off and see if new filament runs smoothly through it - if the ends are mangled I have foud you can take 10mm of each end before it becomes too short. surprisingly the CNC produces chips not dust - and of course a self made (CNC) upgrade vacuum attachment takes care of that (it sits right next to the printers) The great thing about having both machines is that they can both use STLs and the CNC is fast and strong, but the printer can do stunningly complex - both amazing machines!

wow - nice work!

@0235 I feel your pain. For what the machine does I would say comparatively reliable - I have two UMO (I am assuming you mean UMO by V1 and UM2 by V2 or are you referring to the fact that the UMO has an earlier and later version?) To improve reliability I have found that regular maintenance is important - tightening routine on screws, belts and pullys. regular mineral oil on the guide rods (checking that the head moves freely (I do not use WD40 as it is releasing oil and disapears quickly). On the blockages front reliable filament like colorfabb keep the filament 'young' - I have found that older colorfabb acts differently to new and can gum up the nozzle perform atomic clean on nozzles regularly (I swap mine around as I have several sizes and regularly use a heat gun to clean the threads and interior while I am printing with another) only change and tighten nozzles with the head hot - leaking is often because of a lack of tightness caused by gunk tighten carefully - these are not strong components check the bowden off the machine - this checks filament diameter and bowden scratches tiny amounts of oil dust filter on the filament - I use the @iroberti print to hold foam against the filament and am amazed how dirty it gets. So they are not walk away and print, but I also use a cnc router and it is a similar routine to keep a moving gantry in its sweet spot. Hope that helps! James

UMO is a fantastic machine - I am going to upgrade one of mine to UMO+ but as a UMO (I have 2) they have been fantastic! (I change nozzles and mod lots of things at very little cost). The only other dual I would think about would be the Lulzbot TAZ

@TheDeugd I know the functionality may appear in the future - but the lack of it has pushed me from an addict to cold Turkey. it is like a supermarket not stocking my favourite cereal for 2 MONTHS and saying that they will eventually re-stock it ..... by which time I have changed my habits. Actually it is worse than that as they still have my cereal but have reorganised all the stock so I just can't find it - makes me feel stupid - esp when they tell me that the organisation is much better and other people can now find their store way easier - result is I still don't get any breakfast! Maybe I will try toast!

@IRobertI it does not seem to do the same thing - just date orders stuff whereas I am used to 'unread since I last visited' - so I know I have not red them! latest relies on me remembering when I last visited - whereas the forum used to remember for me!

@gr5 volume is not everything! I used to visit three or four times in a day - and now realised that it is probably less than 3 or 4 times in a week. I have noticed that when complete newbies ask questions you are the main responder whereas it used to be a lot more people interested in 'helping' the community. From a personal point of view I less often reach out to help as I know I can't find messages so how will others? I hate G+ and facebook methods of losing information because the latest piece of information has come in and sadly that is what I find here - I still can't set it up to see new messages since I last visited - which was my MAIN tool for reading! While I think i have one of the best printers in the world - what made it so for me was reading about how others had hacked theirs (I have UMOs) and I then did the hack and WOW - what a change! - so much that I bought another! (UMO). So my own impression is that the forum has followed the UM2, which is not my marketplace. And it is fair enough to do that so I am moaning less - but reading more in the communities of printers like Lulzbot where people are adapting their printers and I still get that WOW feeling which has kind of dropped out of here. If some of the functionality comes back and I can avoid the UM2 centric posts then I can see that I would get excited again, but while I don't have the tools to do that it takes effort on my part! James

PLA can be really happy in water - I have had PLA parts (colorfabb PLA) in water for a year - no bad effect. I use PLA for plant pot trays and no ill effect - it is great stuff! James

Looks like you are in the UK? Personally for me at the moment, the 2 printers that I think are tops (I do own two UMOs) are Ultimaker and Taz - In 2 years of printing I have never needed the extra height, and so would go for a UM2 and save the money (all that extra height = many extra hours! I would still go for a UMO as the extruder head means that you can change nozzles really easily - and most of what I print now is using larger nozzles to get the outcome FAST - drill a nozzle to .65 or 1mm and you will be moving at blistering speeds. The Lulzbot Taz is another printer that I think has kept up with the developments and is really hackable - with the only caveat that they are in the US rather than UK but I think can dropship in the UK. If you get a UM2 (I have heard it is good but don't have one) then faberdashery and colorfabb are the filaments of choice. Be careful with the more exotic filaments (nylon etc) in the UM2 as long term runnign at higher temp has issues - but honestly, the workhorse filaments in my life are PLA and XT - I try the others and they are fun, but not the workhorses. As soon as you have one printer you will want another ) - they are tricky to use - like any other complex workshop tool. You will need to devote a fair amount of early time to learning - but then there is no going back! I also recommend looking at S3D software for printing - Cura is good, but S3D has the edge on some support and profile saving areas. James

It might recover in some time - I understand the reasons for the change but it was to prioritise new user take-up but broke the link with 'old' users who provided much of the interaction. As the traction improves it may pick back up. There are probably very good reasons for UM to go from tinkerer to newbie - there are pitfalls (think takerbot) and hopefully we wont go down that route! this forum is still broken - there are signposted upgrades (to bring back previous stickiness) but at the moment is it still one step forward, two steps back - step forward is branding, steps back functionality.

That is an ABS filament ABS is tricky More heat (I think the min is about 260) and slower but ABS is notoriously difficult because of warping, splitting and layer adhesion.

@shurik I don't think it is possible in Cura - sorry have been using S3D for too long

plus just a note - you have a brim but the 'lines' are no touching - which they should be, and so it is worth levelling your bed closer to your nozzle to 'smush' the layers together. - will help with the appearance of the first layer and the brim if you re not getting any lifting and are happy with the first layer appearance then switch off the brim as it is not doing anything! Agree I rarely go over 20/25% infill and always do 6-8 top layers but only 6 bottom

definitely worth looking at the nozzle/brass tube connection rather than the bowden - if that is a cold pull plug then the rim is at the top of the nozzle, nowhere near the bowden. Make sure the brass tube is low enough that the nozzle when tightened has a few mm from the head block - then you can get a proper seal by carefully tightening (by careful i mean careful!) it may be academic though, as at full temp that area should be molten - in my experience there are just bad reels, and reels that are almost bad so that in the last 25% (harder tension) they become blockers - I save those for my larger nozzles. They can also tend to snap if left in the machine overnight (but not always). I have a few designs (plant pots, plant pot feet, bike clips, resin mixing cups) that I print with these 'ends' through larger nozzles, and the designs also have few retractions. Satisfying to use up those problematic filaments.

Well, you may get to know some new interesting people this way ;)Plenty of them over here! I don't think we are over customizing it. One safety feature being if you don't want to customize it, leave it like it is. Just some basic things you can adjust, and we will clearly explain to you what these are and how to do it. Let us know what you think of the new design and UX on The Future post :)It will help us make the best decisions.. it will allow you to make decisions. @sandervg as long as I can have lists - oh, and lists of what has happened since my last visit Thanks, James