DerekRyden

I have a full reel of X STRAND 2.85mm filament - glass-fibre reinforced polyamide 6, GF30-PA6, which you can have if you cover the carriage (UK). Bought in October 2020. Open but stored with desiccant. Cost £70.85 plus VAT. I mistakenly thought I could print it on an Ultimaker 2+. Contact me on derek@blizzardsurvival.com or 07786-437962. Feel free to share or re-post this.

Thanks geert-2. I think you're right, that temperature is the main issue. The filament states 220 - 280, and I had it set at 250, i.e.10 degrees below the max. I don't think the filament was fluid enough at that temp, so the drive mechanism slipped and damaged the filament. Just getting the stuck filament out of the hot end has involved dismantling it completely, and I still haven't cleared the hole in the actual nozzle. What I learned from tech support, is that, even if I got it working, the feed mech won't cope in the long term. So I'm abandoning the idea. I actually have an order in for a CEL Robox Dual, which, if it works OK, has an option for a head (including feed) which works with technical materials. Anyone want to buy a roll of 2.85 X-Strand in original packaging with extra desiccant added, and/or a blocked 0.4mm Ruby Olsson nozzle??!

I have just purchased a ruby nozzle and a roll of "X Strand" (glass reinforced nylon) to print on my UM2 (which has the Olsson block but still the original filament drive mech). After having problems and contacting 3DGBIRE tech support, I'm told that this material will not print on the UM2 (so £180 down the drain). Has anybody else tried this (or a similar) combination and got it to work somehow? I am considering upgrading the drive mech anyway, but was told that this wouldn't make any difference.

I've tried a few things - changing material to ABS, and going to High and even Ultra quality. The only way I got a good print was by using different slicing software - Astroprint - this is not really set up for the Ultimaker - there were a few glitches and I wouldn't want to use it on a regular basis. But it produced nice smooth circles in single sweeps straight away - completely unlike the stop/start which Cura did. I can only conclude that the Cura algorithm isn't really suited to this type of print. I'd really like to discuss this with the software developers - any ideas who to contact.

My immediate problem was that Cura was doing some unpredictable things on a design of mine (see my other question from yesterday). I tried using the online slicer "Astroprint" and got better results, but I wanted to check that the commands were compatible. I also wanted to try and append the Astroprint gcode to that for a printed base generated in Cura, which needed me to be able to put in an initial Z offset. This may, or may not work! However, you have got me to check out all the plugins available, which I wasn't aware of. Thanks for that.

Thanks, this is really useful.

Thanks, that's really helpful. I'll let you know how I get on.

Where can I find a list of Ultigcode commands? I want to tweak the Gcode generated by Cura. I'm already familiar with Gcode programming for Mach3 (milling and turning), but I need to know what is allowed in the Ultigcode dialect.

I'm new to 3d printing and enjoying getting to know the Ultimaker2. I'm generating .stl files using the DesignSpark software from RS then converting to gcode using Cura (downloaded late December 2015). However, I'm confused about some of the decisions Cura is making: 1. See attached photo (CAN'T ATTACH THE PHOTO! - TIPS APPRECIATED. In the meantime perhaps you can help anyway). This print is meant to be a matrix of 20mm circles with 0.5mm walls, every layer the same - total height 5mm. The circles toward the centre print well and smoothly, but for some reason, the software decides to print the outer perimeter of the design in short bursts rather that smoothly, leading to the lumpiness which can be seen. The photo shows a "Normal print", if I chose "Fast print" the effect is so bad that the "lumps" don't even join up. I'd like to be able to fix the problem, but I'd also like to understand why the software is choosing to print identical parts of the design in two completely different ways. The material is Polyflex from Polymakr, printing at 227 degrees with the bed at 60. 2. I'm also frustrated with the support structure printing. Sometimes it doesn't print when I ask it to, and when it does print, sometimes it doesn't come up high enough to touch the material it is supposed to support! Any tips? Thanks for your help, Derek Ryden (UK)