Nicolinux

Hi, I have printed these end caps from Thingster to minimize the play on the x/y rods. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:56769 It works very nice but these things are loud. The tip of the M3x20 screw scratches against the top of the rod. It produces a very high pitched screeching sound. Any idea how to get rid of it? Lubrication won't work because it would wear out too fast. Maybe put something in between - but what?

Hi, mich würde ein Vergleich zwischen PLA90 und Colorfabb XT interessieren. Haben beide veränderte Eingeschaften gegenüber normalem PLA. Hat das jemand zufällig schon probiert?

Wow Ian. This owl looks fantastic. Was this your 25hr print? Colorfabb XT looks really nice, I guess that's on my list for the next purchase. Need to find a good dealer in Germany though.

Just a little update. I switched to leveling with a cold nozzle. If one makes sure that there is no plastic left on the tip, then leveling with the cold noze is very easy and quick. Just remember to take into account that the nozzle expands when it gets hot. I level it now so the "paper drag resistance" is barely noticeable and I've had great results with perfect first layers. Oh and another thing. Isopropylalchool is a beast!. I have to cut away objects from the bed (destroying the blue tape) when they are finished printing... I don't think I need brim anymore And the last thing - I wish Ultimaker would include thumbscrews for bedleveling. Would make it so much easier.

The design files for the Ultimaker Original are here: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/ultimaker-original

@verdonko: Here are the Cura settings/options explained: http://blog.ultimaker.com/cura-user-manual-first-time/ http://blog.ultimaker.com/cura-user-manual-full-settings/

Here is my happy corner. Not so much to see right now - I have my Ultimaker for a few weeks.

Hi, I just saw this video from Peter (great guy btw.). He created a mixture from wood glue and water and uses it to print directly on glass: Skip to 1:40 Anybody else tried that?

Who do you mean? Paul or me? If I remember correctly I did speak with Marrit before the purchase. I didn't knew about the three month time frame for assembled Ultimakers - that's indeed very generous. And don't get me wrong, I still like Ultimaker. I've swallowed the bitter pill and now I am happily churning out great prints (and still fighting the stupid z-stage). I will sell the UM somehow and buy the UM2 - and that's definitelly not bad for Ultimaker

I'd like to chime in here because I am in a similar situation as LePaul. I bought my kit roughly 6 weeks before the release. I too asked specifically if they are about to release the Ultimaker 2 soon. Answer was vague but far from indicating that there was something coming. I wouldn't be upset if I hadn't asked, but I did and this annoys me. Seeing it from UM's perspective, when a potential customer asks you if you have something new in store and would wait and buy the next (and more expensive model) rather then the actual one - what is the sensible thing to answer? Secure an "easy purchase" and tell the customer that the actual model is great (knowing full well that he will be annoyed after the impending release) or tell him to wait a little and turn him into a loyal customer and evangelist for their brand? I am a busness man too and I do have to make similar decision from time to time so I can tell you that I know how I would have answered. LePaul contacted me and I too suggested him to try to sell his machine. I tried to do the same, but up until now without success. I don't know about eBay in the US but here in Germany, there is almost nothing related to 3d printers on it. So it might be hard to sell the printer. And one more thing. I am happy to see that most people defend their UM1. Because this is a great sign for a great product when its owners are still happy after owning it for a long time. But the UM2 is nonetheless a superior machine and improved in almost every regard. Even from the scarce infos about the UM2 and after building the UM1 (and going through so much pain to tune this thing), I can tell that there was much room for improvement. So my point (and LePaul's) still stands - if we had the slightest hint about a new model before the purchase, we would have waited, paid more, owned a better printer and be happier. I can't see why that's a problem for Ultimaker.

It might be far fetched but _maybe_ you just had bad luck with filament. The first filament you used might be of very low quality (where the diameter is not stable). Then your old filament could be also of low quality or degraded over time. I know that filament attracts humidity. That's why I keep my filament in a plastic bag full of silica gel packets. Maybe this old filament ruined your extruder. Although I you could print yourself a new extruder - like this one: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:27626 Or someone here on the forums could print it and send it to you. I am from Germany and I can do it if you like.

@Nick: I don't think it skips steps. The stuttering is completely regular. Regarding the steppers - that's what I thought too (and feared). I guess I will have to do it but I don't even know where to look. I didn't wrap my head around the pcb. I just connected everything and attached it to the bottom plate. But it shouldn't be too different from our old Prusa Mendel. @gr5: The leds are not connected to anything. The have their own power supply. @calinb: Well I have the rev4 board and I guess they improved it a bit. Right now the stuttering is more of cosmetic nature. I didn't experience any failed prints because of it.

I had this stuttering of the z-axis sometimes but I could never reliably reproduce it. Until now. Check out the following video (the interesting bit starts at about 0:35): It happens with the z-axis only although I had this with the y-axis once. This is definitely not something mechanical - maybe related to the steppers. What could it be and how can I get rid of it? Thanks

I have enclosed missleading in quotation marks to emphasis that I don't mean missleading in terms of telling a lie. You are right, that's exactly the point. 3D printing is far from beeing easy and user friendly - and that's what the video implies.

Hey Paul, look at Apple's videos - they are all "missleading". But that's just marketing. I have already stated that this glossy image does not fit Ultimaker with their honest and down to earth approach. But it is their company and their decision. I also agree that the launch could have been bigger/better. Just because the Maker Faire is well known in NY doesn't mean the whole world turns to it when Ultimaker launches something new.

One more question. The UM2 features rod endcaps only on one side. How do you avoid the rods popping out on the "open" side?

Hey Paul, another idea how to insert the led bars. Use a hair dryer and heat up the parts a bit. Don't over do it! PLA becomes soft rather quickly when heated up. Then insert the led bars and clamp it with your fingers (don't burn yourself). My led holders for the rear plate still hold well even if they are a bit creacked. I will print new ones and also use the hair dryer trick.

Does the image show the finished parts? Because the top layers are missing. If you set Bottom/Top Thickness that low (you have 0.4), with a layers size of 0.2 it means there are only two top layers. I would stick to the default of 0.6 or increase it to 0.8. Regarding the led bars - yes they barely fit. And there is another issue. If the first layers of the object (those that stick to the bed) form a ridge (are abit wider) the will also take some space away from the place where the led bars belong. You could file it. I had trouble fitting the led bars. For the back holders I broke them a bit because I couldn't slide the bars from the side.

One easy way to rule this out is to print with another filament and see if it behaves the same. Then you'd know for sure if it is your new filament or your printer.

Another tip. Check that you have calibrated your extruder (e-steps in the firmware). You can do this via the UltiPanel if you have one. http://voltivo.com/2013/05/15/ultimaker-3d-printer-calibration/ http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/2774-very-high-e-steps-value/

Oh wow, that's a nice print!

The robot is still shifted to the right from what I see. Make sure that you also tighten the pulleys on the x/y motors.

I mean the extruder is not locked. The small black handle should be pushed down. Take a look at my extruder: Sorry for the bad image quality. I had to add a sheet of paper in order to provide some contrast.

By the way, if you need some nice high-res pictures and comparision to the Ultimaker 1: https://www.igo3d.com/blog/ultimaker-2-pictures-comparison

The user Thingster answered somewhere else to this so I am re-posting his answer (hope it is ok):