Reasons to buy an UM3

[eros 1]

I really need a reliable dual extruder printer.

I was about to buy a BCN3D Sigma, then the UM3 was announced.

I need to print intricate prints using the most of the print area, dual extrusion mixed with reliability in long prints are the only features i need.

What are, in your opinion, the reasons to choose an UM3 and spend 1300€ more than a Sigma?

Thank you

Edited November 3, 2016 by Guest

[korneel 176]

that's a very fair question and one i asked myself.

i talked to someone i knew that had both the UM3 , and UM2+ and a Sigma.

apparently in his Sigma he has had to replace all of the stepper motors since they all died on him, he has had rust inside bearings and on the axis, and multiple other weird things that you should not be expecting for that money. the Ultimaker however has been a solid printer through and through.

i would say, talk to a Sigma owner

[SandervG 1,521]

And if you have some examples of what you are planning on making, that would probably also help.

What kind of materials are you planning on using?

Ultimaker is known for its high quality prints and reliability, and we were not planning on choosing a different direction for the Ultimaker 3.

[eros 1]

And if you have some examples of what you are planning on making, that would probably also help.

What kind of materials are you planning on using?

Ultimaker is known for its high quality prints and reliability, and we were not planning on choosing a different direction for the Ultimaker 3.

 

Material will be mostly PLA, ABS, NYLON, perhaps some exotic like bronzefill but with the first 3 i am already going to be fine.

Printer is for artistic prurpose, i do not like publishing my personal work here but let's say that is something like the Mathematical Art sold on Shapeways.

Ultimaker is known for its high quality prints and reliability, also UM2 was known to be a printer that was needing a lot of technical manitenance in order to keep it running properly, i say this as an owner, and a company that at the end of the day, didn't delivery dual extrusion promise, but this is a different debate.

Question is: can be UM3 be considered a machine that need less attentions than UM2? and where can be considered more useful than her competitors Sigma or, let's say, a multi material Prusa i3 mk2? Considering the very high price. I am mentining expecially that two printers because what really matter are good prints and reliability.

Thanks for your kind attention

[korneel 176]

 

And if you have some examples of what you are planning on making, that would probably also help.

What kind of materials are you planning on using?

Ultimaker is known for its high quality prints and reliability, and we were not planning on choosing a different direction for the Ultimaker 3.

 

Material will be mostly PLA, ABS, NYLON, perhaps some exotic like bronzefill but with the first 3 i am already going to be fine.

Printer is for artistic prurpose, i do not like publishing my personal work here but let's say that is something like the Mathematical Art sold on Shapeways.

Ultimaker is known for its high quality prints and reliability, also UM2 was known to be a printer that was needing a lot of technical manitenance in order to keep it running properly, i say this as an owner, and a company that at the end of the day, didn't delivery dual extrusion promise, but this is a different debate.

Question is: can be UM3 be considered a machine that need less attentions than UM2? and where can be considered more useful than her competitors Sigma or, let's say, a multi material Prusa i3 mk2? Considering the very high price. I am mentining expecially that two printers because what really matter are good prints and reliability.

Thanks for your kind attention

 

if you are ok with me answering, I can offer some insights..

UM2 was known to be a printer needing a lot of maintenance..

well, sure, the UM2 had it's issues.. and then the Um2+ was released. when it comes to maintenance requirements between the UM2+ and the UM3, i think it's pretty similar and i would consider it needing less time as compared to other printers.. the maintenance will be different though.. they will need to have their feeders inspected every now and then, the axis need to be lubricated, you need to clean the nozzles.. nothing really different.. the biggest difference is that the UM3 is more designed to run in a continuous operation and when it needs maintenance, maintenance is quick.. so instead of changing parts inside the print head, you just replace the entire print core and be up and running again. the UM2+ offers more ways to change small parts and make small differences, so more tinkering...

i think if you need a printer that is a set and forget solution, you're looking at the UM3. if you're looking at a printer that has been around for years and allows for tinkering and suiting it to your needs, you want an UM2+.

and where can be considered more useful than her competitors Sigma or, let's say, a multi material Prusa i3 mk2?

so those are 2 questions in 1..

first of all, the Prusa I3 is NOT multi material. we have to be super clear about that. yes, it's multi colour, but NOT multi material. you will not be able to print PLA and PVA on the Prusa I3.. they reuse the same print head for all materials, so mixing won't be an option. you need dual nozzles for that..

now that's cleared up, why the higher price?

well this community is one reason..

talk to any reseller that sells different printers and they will tell you the same story. the Prusa I3, supercool printer, works as advertised and if you want a printer that just works that you can use to print your own things with, it's an awesome printer. it requires regular maintenance like any other printers.. but if you buy an original one, it's going to be a great buy for home use. running it in a continous matter, sure, that will work, but is not their intented usage..

as far as the BNC Sigma, it's a good printer, but it's build quality is sub-par. I've heard the stories and seen the examples of rust, broken stepper motors within the year.. yes it's a great printer, works as advertised and fun to print with every now and then. not meant for putting a lot of stress on it..

now the Ultimaker, that's a different story. high quality materials, build quality just feels great and sturdy, can certainly take a punch, really build for "abuse".

So I can only tell you the UM3 is awesome. that being said, I can't look into your wallet so I don't know how much you want to spend.. if you are talking about the UM3 and the Prusa I3 in the same sentence.. that's a different conversation.. you can buy 3 I3s for the price of 1 UM3..

if I look at my UM3s, they can do things the Prusa I3 cannot do.. so the UM3 is worth every penny to me.. if i had requirements that the I3 could do exactly what I want, and I didn't need the features in the UM3.. then I would get the I3..

[DidierKlein 729]

Something else i heard about the Sigma is that it's very noisy (big ass fan always blowing) and that the buildplate can easily be detached while printing because it's held by magnets.

Other than that it seems to be a good dual printer. I was also looking to buy one at a moment but then i waited for the UM3 to come out, now that i've played quite a bit with the UM3 i must say it works really nicely, prints every material i put inside of it with no issues (PLA, ABS, CPE, Nylon, PVA, WillowFlex).

I think as @korneel said that maintenance is easier on the UM3 because basically all you need to do is change the print core (in the worst case) which is done is 2 minutes. Besides that the maintenance needed is pretty standard (oil and grease mainly).

I think it's very reliable and robust, probably a good choice if you plan on printing a lot with different materials

The prusa MK2 looks great but as said the multi extrusion kit only works for the same material, which is not really interesting from my point of view. It's cool but the main benefit of multi extrusion for me is not multi colors (even if it looks nice) but multi material, which is almost impossible to do with the same nozzle, specially when you are aiming to print a support material.

[peggyb 171]

 

I need to print intricate prints using the most of the print area

 

Keep in mind what the usable print area is (other than advertised) so you're not disappointed afterwards:

https://ultimaker.com/en/community/22609-print-requiring-build-space-of-22x22x20-cm

https://ultimaker.com/en/community/25807-cura-build-volume-for-ultimaker-3

[nallath 1,123]

Download Cura first, play with it a bit, then make up your mind.

[SandervG 1,521]

Hi @Eros, perhaps it would also help to set the right expectations if you could share with us what type of maintenance you had to do.

Like has been stated a few times already, the Ultimaker 2 was a good machine but the Ultimaker 2+ which it turned into, was a more reliable machine which was also more easy to maintain.

Perhaps some of the things you ran into, could have been avoided. Or perhaps not.

Depending on how you use the machine, the maintenance can also vary.

So by sharing what you ran into previously, could help us present you a more clearer picture. That said, the run down given by Korneel and Didier is absolutely true.

For your models, printing with PVA sounds like a must. It works really well on an Ultimaker 3 with both PLA and Nylon. (some even prefer Nylon over PLA).

Keep in mind that currently it comes with a 0.4 nozzle in the print core, but other print cores should become available later too.

[eros 1]

Hi @Eros, perhaps it would also help to set the right expectations if you could share with us what type of maintenance you had to do.

Like has been stated a few times already, the Ultimaker 2 was a good machine but the Ultimaker 2+ which it turned into, was a more reliable machine which was also more easy to maintain.

 

I bet on UM2 two years ago, the machine was great for some points but had numerous issues, you guys from the team already know and already heard about them so many times that is useless to repeat (also this forum is full of cases).

To have the promised machine with the + extension i had to wait 2 years and would had spent 500 more € (2800 total), so i would not use UM2+ upgrade for comparison. Let skip also the UM2 double extrusion part, that was another reason me and other 10000 users buiyed the machine. Old, boring story.

What i would like to see from you, perhaps i am missing something, is a more clear communication about UM3, clear case studies, more real example of prints, not coming out from marketing offices, without waiting users to do it, that would be a reason for me to bet again on UM.

Productive part: UM3 is working well with nylon, which is truly intresting, do you have some pictures of a Nylon print with supports? No warping?

 

the Prusa I3 is NOT multi material. we have to be super clear about that. yes, it's multi colour, but NOT multi material.

 

this might be not true since there are examples of e3d scaffold supporting e3d edge printed with the dual feed. Correct me if i am wrong. Not the same range of options, of course, but not even just color.

I am here to be convinced, not for the love of debate . This have to be clear

thank you all

Edited November 10, 2016 by Guest

[korneel 176]

 

Hi @Eros, perhaps it would also help to set the right expectations if you could share with us what type of maintenance you had to do.

Like has been stated a few times already, the Ultimaker 2 was a good machine but the Ultimaker 2+ which it turned into, was a more reliable machine which was also more easy to maintain.

 

I bet on UM2 two years ago, the machine was great for some points but had numerous issues, you guys from the team already know and already heard about them so many times that is useless to repeat (also this forum is full of cases).

To have the promised machine with the + extension i had to wait 2 years and would had spent 500 more € (2800 total), so i would not use UM2+ upgrade for comparison. Let skip also the UM2 double extrusion part, that was another reason me and other 10000 users buiyed the machine. Old, boring story.

What i would like to see from you, perhaps i am missing something, is a more clear communication about UM3, clear case studies, more real example of prints, not coming out from marketing offices, without waiting users to do it, that would be a reason for me to bet again on UM.

Productive part: UM3 is working well with nylon, which is truly intresting, do you have some pictures of a Nylon print with supports? No warping?

 

the Prusa I3 is NOT multi material. we have to be super clear about that. yes, it's multi colour, but NOT multi material.

 

this might be not true since there are examples of e3d scaffold supporting e3d edge printed with the dual feed. Correct me if i am wrong. Not the same range of options, of course, but not even just color.

I am here to be convinced, not for the love of debate . This have to be clear

thank you all

 

so.. I have many examples of prints that I have only been able to do on the UM3..

I have just completed a print that was for an archtectural firm, it's a model of a playground play piece, with a slide and swingset. they needed the PVA support because this is a print with a lot of floating pieces for inside a maquette. could not have done that on the UM2.

have also just completed a large print for a petrochemical company, it's a processing vat with a cutout in the side so you can look inside. pretty large print, with lots of complex equipment inside, so needed PVA to make sure we could print inside.

sorry, can't post pictures since they are customer prints, but very cool nevertheless.

as far as the multi material.. sure, you could run PVA type material through the same nozzle as PLA... but I've just completed a 5 day print with PVA and PLA.. total of 500 grams of PVA and 450 grams of PLA.. that's just not going to work through the same nozzle..

but ask away what else would you like to know? if you have scenarios about what you want to print, i'm sure someone can answer

[eros 1]

I've just completed a 5 day print with PVA and PLA.. total of 500 grams of PVA and 450 grams of PLA.. that's just not going to work through the same nozzle...

 

the dual material 5 days print is what i am looking for. Can you please share informations of print size, wall thickness and infill?

Do you think you'd be able to do the same print with nylon as main material?

The problem for me is the lack of tricky prints examples on the company website.

My friend from local printer store called me today because arrived an um3 to be presented to the customers, if i'm lucky i'll be able to test the printer next days

Edited November 11, 2016 by Guest

[korneel 176]

 

I've just completed a 5 day print with PVA and PLA.. total of 500 grams of PVA and 450 grams of PLA.. that's just not going to work through the same nozzle...

 

the dual material 5 days print is what i am looking for. Can you please share informations of print size, wall thickness and infill?

Do you think you'd be able to do the same print with nylon as main material?

The problem for me is the lack of tricky prints examples on the company website.

My friend from local printer store called me today because arrived an um3 to be presented to the customers, if i'm lucky i'll be able to test the printer next days

 

sure! unfortunately i can't share the models since they are part of the deal for a chemical company, but I can tell you about it

20 percent infill, 2 outer walls, 0.15 layer height, print size was around 15 by 15 by 16 I believe..

only drawback for me was the changing of spools mid print that was a bit of paying attention.. but no other issue at all..

i still have to test Nylon but heard great things about it.. will test it later this week