jonnybischof

Do you have some pictures of that setup? I don't really get your idea How did you cut the acrylic panels to shape?

Finally got my "effector rod length tool" produced and ready. There will be progress in the next days on my side

Don't worry. I'm using Misumi's stainless steel corner pieces for the upper four corners. They're not drawn yet, but they should be pretty rigid... The bottom is an 8mm Trespa HPL plate, to which the profiles get screwed with an M8 screw. That should be rock solid, too. On top of all that, there will be plywood panels on every side, I might even make inner and outer walls for better thermal insulation and aesthetics. Should there still be any kind of play in the frame, I have space enough to slap some more steel plates on it (much like Harold's XT parts). But I doubt that will be necessary...

The resistor has to come "before" the capacitor (if it's the other way round, you have a highpass filter ). (picture source: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu) You will change the fan control's characteristics a lot by adding a low-pass filter, because that's not how this kind of control is meant to work. While it's possible to achieve a good regulation characteristic, it will only work with the particular fan you've made the filter for. Switch out the fan with another one that draws a different amount of current, and you can re-size your low-pass again...

The primary issue is uneven wear on the linear components when you have unevenly distributed forces. Now, the bearings and shafts are made from hardened steel - so it'll take a little something to actually wear them off. But if you overdo it, you could quickly wear down the bearings and lose their tight fit. This is why it's very important to have actual linear ball bearings, and not bushings. Because canted bushings tend to get stuck, whereas ball bearings still roll (you just wear down some balls more than others). I believe it won't be an issue with my design, so long as the linear components are high grade.

There's a pretty heavy steel plate at the back of the z-stage. It holds the linear bearing carriages in place and acts as the counterweight. Of course it's by far not enough to put it into balance - but I'll see how it works once it's assembled. I got the lasered metal parts yesterday (delivered early ), but the Misumi is still on it's way and should arrive on the 30th of december. I'll also have to create production drawings for the z-stage's Trespa base and CNC-mill it. I made all the structures bigger, so hopefully this time I won't break 4 expensive milling tools just for one part...

Wouldn't be a problem at all, as long as "inside" the triangle is good enough. There's only 7mm from the z-stage's rear wall to the frame's wall. But there's one reason why you don't want the leadscrew to be too close to the center of gravity: If that were the case, you'd probably introduce rattle on the linear bearings. Now, they "lean" on the shafts - no rattle. So there's a tradeoff between distributing the force and keeping a certain imbalance. Adding weights could improve the very uneven balance as it is now. But I doubt that will be necessary - this setup should be rock solid thanks to the 100m long bearings and the steel construction

The optimal spot would be to place the leadscrew in the center of gravity of the z-stage. That's of course not possible, but at least I moved the leadscrew a bit closer - it's only about 20 mm, but it's better than nothing. I can't tell how much better - I'm not the type who calculates stuff like that, I just try it Don't look at the drawing too closely - there are some unfinished parts (like the hotend mount which is barely a sketch) and lots of hidden parts.

Had to do it... One spool of the stuff is on the way to me, too

I hope it's nothing like Orbi-Tech's PLA90. Worst PLA I've ever had

If I make a picture of the UM black edition as it is now, it's just going to be a lot of expensive stuff in boxes I promise there will be pictures over the christmas holidays! /edit: About flexible shafts. It's an interesting concept. When I'm done with the UM black edition (which - finally - IS going to be soon) and my delta-bot build, I'll continue making a printer specialised for flexible filaments. Meaning no Bowden. Flexible shafts will be on top of the list for prototypes...

Lol, the guy likes screws just as much as I do Actually, yeah, our printers are quite alike. Except that I use less printed parts and more lasered metal parts. And I did all the changes I mentioned before. The UMO+ HBP? Well, it's nice. But mine is better. My z-stage is built from stainless steel and Trespa HPL, as opposed to the "cheap" aluminum plate that makes the rigidity of the UMO+ kit. My z-stage is also heavier (= higher vibration immunity) and has a larger bearing height on the z-shafts, making it even more stable. I'm also introducing a triangular arrangement of the z-shafts and the leadscrew, even further increasing the build's stability.

Should've made the button red

That's what the manufacturer says What matters is how the material behaves once it's actually printed. In reality. With customer grade FDM printers. There can be huge differences.... But it could of course be that they actually did make improvements and that newer products are in fact better. I don't know everything There was some report here in the forums a while ago, maybe you can find it through the search. Or maybe I read it some place else, I don't recall.

ABS with CF will most probably ruin your printer (unless you have an all-steel hotend). Carbon fibers are highly abrasive, maybe even to a metal hotend. And I've heard the ABS with CF isn't worth much - very brittle stuff. But no first-hand experience there from me I am in fact building a bigger Ultimaker over christmas, but (for now) it's just bigger, but doesn't have a bigger build volume You can read more here: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4103-ultimaker-black-edition/

To be honest, not that much! The Ultimaker is an awesome printer - as long as it works. There are a few issues which just come from the machine being built "economically" instead of "without compromise". I'm mostly doing the latter - increasing the machine's build quality, reliability and lifespan. And of course there's the matter of accuracy. UM doesn't use precision parts (concerns the shafts, mostly), and the wooden frame warps with changing temperatures / humidity. The UM black edition v2 will have the whole gantry built up from aluminum. Warping from changing humidity will be gone. I'm not perfectly happy about that (aluminum actually warps with changing temperature, too), but steel would simply be too heavy. I might do an all-stainless-steel version for the super-enthusiast (and for myself), but I doubt people would really want many of these. My frame will expand by about 0.4mm over it's total width for a temperature rise of 40°. That's not much, but steel warps only about half as much. And of course the whole frame shouldn't experience a temperature rise of 40° in the first place. I'll take measurements with the prototype to gather some numbers... Of course there are some real improvements, such as the vastly improved z-stage (which has yet to prove how much better it actually is) or direct drive. I'm also redesigning all the other components, such as the material feeder or sliding blocks, and using a higher quality hotend (the E3Dv6). But really - no reinvention of the wheel here. My goal is just to build a 3D printer that you can assemble and that WILL work realiably and with maximum achievable accuracy for a long time. Z-height will probably be a little higher than the UMO, but that's only a detail... V3 might also get a bigger build platform, because with my frame that is not a problem. But I first have to find a bigger heated bed... I also expect the black edition to be quieter than the UMO due to it's rigid build. Some improvements about cooling are also planned - I'll see what comes out of it. One of the most important upgrades will be my improved electronics platform. But this project is huge and will take a long time to get done. Apart from the fact that the UM black edition will cost around 3 times as much as an UMO kit, there are some drawbacks: My frame is bigger and heavier (with the same build volume) than the UMO's because it uses 30mm extrusion profiles + 5-6mm walls, where the UMO just has the 6mm walls.

Never tried these materials before.. I heard they're more complicated to work with than PLA (actually, pretty much every material is more complicated to work with than PLA...). Maybe, a Bakelite plate (E3D sells them as "Tufnol / Garolite") which is optimal for printing nylon is also good for PA6 (PA6 is nylon). Never tried Nylon before, but I have one of these plates. They seem pretty good (flat, rugged), and if the nylon sticks to them - they're well invested money.

If I were you, I'd put the electronics onto the back of the printer (where the spool usually sits) - closer to the motors - and actually make them shorter instead of longer. Shorter wiring improves performance and reliability (noise immunity). If you find a good 400x400 mm platform, please let us know. I don't know any source for larger than usual plates...

For non-grounded devices, ESD protection is simple: 1. Fully enclose the electronics in plastic or wood (any electrical isolator) Any remaining opening just has to be small enough so that you can't reach inside and touch anything. 2. Every piece of metal that remains "touchable" and is connected to any signal other than GND must be protected, for example with ESD diodes (aka TVS or suppressor diodes), if possible along with ferrite beads, capacitors or resistors. That's somewhat simplified, ok. But you can cover most issues just by doing that... /edit: The better solution would be to use a grounded power supply and a (grounded) metal frame. Every time you touch the Ultimaker's frame - you'll lose your static charge. But that introduces some new problems that are fun to work with, such as USB Ground loops. Actually, it's better not to do that, because if you ground an electronics platform that is not designed to be grounded, you just make things worse.

Both blocks are listed because I couldn't decide between the two. But you can ignore that list - it was never completed or tested. I have instead re-designed pretty much every single piece of the printer and will be using only my own designs ("My own designs" sometimes being derivatives, of course. I'll take care for proper attribution when I publish the design). As for the state of the UMBEv2 (the name is work in progress...), I'm now trying out a frame made from 30mm aluminum extrusion profiles. The Ultimaker gantry is - in it's theory of operation - unchanged. It is mounted to the frame using lasered 5mm aluminum parts. The z-stage has been completely redesigned (twice) and is now made from lasered stainless steel parts that hold two linear bearing cages (Misumi part number LHSSL12). These cages are basically an aluminum block that holds two linear bearings in alignment, with a total length of 100mm. That's the core of the machine. The extrusion profiles will then be enclosed with some wall panels - probably plywood as wood is a good thermal isolator (and it's cheap as dirt). Most of the materials now come from Misumi (which is probably the best stuff you can buy, like anywhere...) or from a professional sheet metal producer in Switzerland. A little preview: Most of the parts are ordered and on their way to me. There will be more real-life pictures over the christmas holidays

I know someone who has an amazing rig, too! (What's wrong with me today?? o.O)

PWM settings do not matter (at all) for the fan. If it can't take 19V, then it dies. Even at 1% PWM, because that means you put 19V to the fan - just only for a short time. If the fan uses MosFETs rated for 12V, then it will blow. But it has to be a crappy product if they take 12V MosFETs for a 12V product. You always have to give some safety margin... Zener diode is a good idea. Or you could use a 24V fan. Just take a rather powerful 24V fan because you won't be able to run it at it's rated 100%. About the transistors: It could always be the ominous "death by ESD". Touch it one single time being statically charged - you might have killed it. But if you try to actually do that on purpose, you can try 100 times and not get the transistor dead... Note that there is no ESD protection on the UM electronics whatsoever. The machine is not grounded, so there is some degree of ESD immunity. But still - as the Swiss would say - (english: at least put a rubber around it!)This may be a little bit offensive to some people. But I don't care

Sunon fans are widely used in the industry and inside consumer IT products. They are usually well made and have a long lifespan. The 12V rating shouldn't be a problem. I haven't tried many different fans, but until now, all my 12V fans have worked on the UM's 19V port. The fan couldn't be switched off anymore? That sounds very much like a dead transistor to me.

Interesse hätte ich durchaus auch an dem Design Werde es wohl oder übel ein wenig anpassen müssen, da mein UM nicht mehr die Standardmasse hat. Aber die Idee zählt schliesslich..

Strange to see how people either report "everything perfect - good hotend" or "complete garbage, doesn't work at all" for the E3D. I'm pretty close to finally trying my E3D hotend out. Not on the delta-printer (bought a Merlin hotend for this one as it will be a PLA only printer), but my all-metal UM black edition went into it's next prototyping stage yesterday /edit: Back to the E3D: Did you set retraction length to 2.5mm ? I heard Cura's 4.5mm standard are too much for the E3D. But to be honest - I'm not up to date with the E3D anymore. Will need to read through all the stuff again before I start using it.