LesHall

I just checked the plus sign and it is not a sticker, it is printed directly onto the surface of the case, so I figure I am good to go and my paranoia is incorrect as usual. Now I just have to figure out this strange y axis offset! Les

Also I leave my UM on all th time as the lights give me hope. is that OK? Les

OK, so I am good to go either way. I guess I'm just naturally paranoid. I think maybe the person who said "do you think he can tell?" in (perhaps not) reference to me may have been talking about a swap of my new phone or my old computer, again making no sense. So it's just me being paranoid. Thank you for the response and the vote of confidence! Les

OK this is a strange one, so pardon the extra dose of weird please! I have become a bit concerned due to whispers of thoughts in my recollection and an unexplained Y axis offset that someone has swapped out my Ultimaker 2+ for an Ultimaker2 with the 2+ stickers and maybe the upgrade as well. I told you it was a weird one... So my first question to you is how can I tell if that is what actually happened or if it is just my natural paranoia (I am diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia so I would not be surprised if it is all in my mind)? So then what if it is true or false? Well in either case, what I really would like to have is a dual extruder on my Ultimaker. So is there a plan to offer a dual extruder kit for the 2+? Or should i trade my 2+ for a dual 2? What would you do? Les

When I Home the printer it lands on the front left corner as you see it from the opening at the front of the printer. It is over glass completely. I looked in the gCode setup and it was blank. Is this OK? Les

For the longest time now I've been thinking that my prints are offset on the build plate. Then today I looked carefully and yep they are offset toward the front of the printer by about 10 or 20 mm. I operate my printer from the medical bed where I spend most of my time so I view prints at such an angle that the offset is not obvious. This explains why it has gone on for so long without my noticing it. Now I do notice it and it's rather obvious. So I looked thru all the settings and even replaced the printer model with a new one. Also I am using Cura 2.3 so it is not Cura itself. I am concerned about "Gremlins" as I call them, ill will residents who enter my unlocked room while I am sleeping to do sneaky things. In the past I have seen definite evidence of this, though the rate of incidents has slowed down greatly. It could also be something simple like I used to use Cura for my Printrbot which had a 150mm bed. The offset may have been set in Cura's Printrbot days and still exist in the machine somehow. However it began does not matter. I want to fix it. Your helpful comments are greatly appreciated as always. Les

Hey everyone, members of the human hive mind, I bring you this interesting question! How do I make my own rafts? My most popular 3D printable item is AVA's Gear Toy 2. It is a planetary gear set located here: AVA's Gear Toy 2 It's appeared on a few YouTube segments and is at the very top of my Analytics listings. So I figure I'll make a new one by crafting the original a bit better. More comments, better size scaling from small to large, three printable build plates, and general cleanup of the code - oh also designed for Customizer. All that seems really nice and then I realized that I could make the whole thing be print-in-place if only I made the base of the unit be a raft. Just like selecting the raft feature on Cura's Build Plate Adhesion settings, I will make my own raft and then all eight of the gears can be printed on a base that is a custom designed raft. This will end all that silly build plate and assemble with glue nonsense and let me actually do this popular item as a print in place. I already know the technique for making hinges that print in place, and I have a bit of a clue for how to make a raft but really I would like confirmation and a little bit of community support on this one to save time and grief on it. Also this way I can reference the excellent community resources at Ultimaker to maybe sell more UM printers (yeah maybe lol). but anyway, for what it's worth I'll make mention! So tell me, how would you go about this? Les

oops looks like i spoke too soon, it appears to be centered now, sorry for confusion! Les

Hi again all, My prints are all offset from the center of the base by bout 50cm in the y direction (toward the front, they are too close to the front edge of the printer). I have gremlins. Sometimes people come into my room while I am away or sleeping and mess with my printer settings. Plus there could be any other manner of explanations. So I deleted my .cura folder and then installed Cura 2.3 Beta. the Beta KNEW ALREADY that I had a UM2+ and the offset did not go away. What's up with that? I'm confused because i thought deleting the .cura folder would erase it's prior knowledge of printer offsets. What is the explanation and how do i fix this, thanks in advance - again! Les

I just installed the Cura 2.3 beta release and I'm happy to report that it's a real winner in my book. I'm just beginning to explore the new features and I've already noticed a difference in the speed and user interface that are improvements, plus it seems like the algorithm for printing is a bit smarter, or is that just me? Anyway, ty of the step forward! Les

Thank you Rowlec, I will check that out. Les

The part printed flawlessly, now I am printing the gears that go on it. I have learned to keep the printer in better tuned up precision and bed cleanliness, plus also use glue with older filament spools. So much to know in 3D printing - keeps me busy! Les p.s. thanks for the help, it's the community that makes the experience work. I tell people who ask me about shopping for a printer, I say: "Look for a thriving community, then compare printers."

It looks like it was a combination of the machine settings and bed leveling being out of whack, plus a case of the ole stale filament because the print is now flawless on the first layer! Thanks for your help, the glue idea worked. I put down two coats of extra-purple Elmer's glue stick and the adhesion is excellent. Les

It's lifting after a while into the print. And it seems to have improved with the lower travel speed. Still one small part turned out wrong. I think now that the printer is all tuned up it's just a case of old slightly humidified filament. I'm going to try adhesive next. Les

Just checked the travel speed as the print head seemed to be jerking around awfully fast, it's 150mm/s isn't that way too high? Les

I am printing with filament that has performed well in the past. I tried www.atomicfilament.com first, which is from a one man shop who is crazy about quality first and value second - recommend you give the site a look. Also just tried MeltInk filament which has worked well in the past also. I don't think it's the filament unless it has gotten humid from leaving it out, but there are no sputters from the nozzle during print - still could be humidity i guess. Problem seems to be near the center of the bed not the edges, btw... it could be the first layer going too fast as the travel speed looks way too high for some reason. I reloaded all software and updated firmware, even downloaded beta Cura and such, so I'm thinking not. unless i did that in the wrong order. I will check it. Les

HI all, Consulting the hiveMind on this one as I have tried all I know. The filament is lifting on the first layer. I have tried repeatedly cleaning the bed and adjusting for level, have updated the firmware in both the printer and in Cura including downloading and installing Cura 2.3 for Mac. I am wondering if a rod is bent or something crazy like that. Or maybe I did not do things in the right order to solve the issue. Anyway, the issue is that the UM2+ begins it's big round circle of my design file with a nice perfect bead, but when it gets to the detailed outlines in the middle the filament lifts off of the build plate. Thanks in advance for any help. Les

TY, I only tightened the loose collar. I'll go back and tighten all of them at the next opportune moment - good idea to check them all! Les

Hey all, the back (top) rod on my Ultimaker 2+ slid out to the left to the point that the right side fell out of it's mounting hole and the print head made a noise at one side of the print. The noise is what alerted me to it. I put the rod back into place and now it is slowly sliding out to the left again. Is this a loose collar or both collars loose? My guess is the left one is loose. Thanks in advance. Les

The only thing is the cost. It costs about four times as much as the ColorFabb product, at $85.00 USD per half pound. Thats about $425.0 USD per kilogram! That's the same as Functionalize's graphene filament. Les

Right, which is a whole lot better. It might even be electrically conductive although I don't see any statement to that effect on their web site. They do claim that the appearance of unfired samples that are polished blows ColorFabb out of the water. So it looks better at the very least and might even be electrically conductive! (we can hope so anyway). Les

So you don't *have to* fire it in a kiln, you can just use it fresh off the printer. I am hoping i can use it in my ultimaker 2+ which has a PTFE coupler and is therefore not an all metal hotend. Les