Expectations and the Ultimaker 2 or Ultimaker 2 Go

[msnowman 1]

I've kept an eye on 3d printing news for a couple of years and I think it might be time for me to take the plunge. After about 4 hours of research I think Ultimaker 2 or the Ultimaker 2 Go might be the printer I purchase. I do have a few questions that given enough time I could probably find the answers to on my own but I was hoping maybe someone here could answer them faster.

I don't know if it matters for these questions but I will mostly be printing is game pieces and miniature terrain.

Will 3rd party parts for the Ultimaker 2 also work on the Ultimaker 2 Go or is the smaller form factor a problem?

How important is the heated bed? Is it important enough that I shouldn't consider the Ultimaker 2 Go unless the Ultimaker 2 isn't within my budget?

This question is more of an opinion but what should my printer monitoring expectation be? For instance with my CNC I can start jobs that will take hours and go to the office for the day and come back to find the job completed no problem. I could do the same thing with the laser engraver too but I know it will be that one time that I'm not there that it will start a fire so I start it and do other things but only run it when I'm there. With the Ultimaker 2 line is it something that once you are comfortable with it you start and walk away or is it something that needs to be monitored more closely?

[gr5 2,235]

3rd party parts such as the olsson block work great. The "head" is identical and the circuit board underneath is identical. The power supply is smaller on the um2go.

Heated bed is needed if you want to print ABS. But there is no longer any good reason to need ABS. It's not stronger (but some claim it is). The main advantage of ABS is that it can handle higher temps (think car with window rolled up on hot summer day - around 140F or 55C.

However now there is a high temp PLA from protopasta! After you print you backe at a low temp for a while and it's suddenly worthy of high temps. Of course it probably only comes in one color for now.

Once the bottom layer is in good shape I usually feel it is fine to walk away - but only after you have the experience of at least 20 successful prints of similar nature. Once you go for a larger size print or something with different amounts of overhang or shape it's best if you are there. But if you've printed 10 chess pieces with no issue it's okay to go off to work or go to sleep.

As far as safety to say an apartment - it's pretty darn safe. At UM headquarters they power the head to full power for hours to see what happens. It's isn't pretty and will make some smoke but it won't burn down your apartment.

[gr5 2,235]

By the way - never do that with a laser cutter! You will likely start many many fires and you really need to be there to put them out. Not in the next room.

[valcrow 145]

Hi there,

The vast majority of UM2 mods will work for UM2GO. All the major parts are the same, including the print head and extruder drive. So most things will fit without modification. The only difference being the frame size and heated bed. The 2Go also comes in a handy foam case (which is awesome)

The heated bed is important for a few things, if you want to try different materials that require a heated bed to stick. (ABS for example) or if you need your parts to be really flat to join together. Heated glass plates produces a very smooth flat bottom that can be easily joined with a small seam. With tape, it peels up a little bit and corners tend to leave a bit of a bigger gap when joined compared to heated glass bottom prints.

For mini-terrain, I don't see this being an issue. You'd probably stick with PLA (cheap, easy, low temp, low maintenance and sharp details)

IMO the 2go prints better by a small margin than the UM2 and EXT due to the super small rigid frame. However, personally, if this your first printer, I would suggest the UM2. the UM2GO makes an awesome second printer. As a first printer however you'd want to try stuff and have a bigger build volume to see the limitations. -my 2 cents.

I have a bunch of UMs and I am happy to leave them all running when out of the house/office. The UMO's make me a tiny bit more nervous due to their wood construction. But I have no problems leaving the UM2's. I run a lot of 40 hour prints on a UPS and I worry much more about the print failing than burning the place down. But precautions are always wise...

[valcrow 145]

Bah Gr5 beat me to the punch!

[msnowman 1]

Thanks for the quick responses. That helps.