Jump to content

weak print with too strong support


Recommended Posts

Posted · weak print with too strong support

Ok, I'll try to stay calm. I just spend €500 on an UM2 to 2+ upgrade, installed the latest Cura, put in a roll of official UM ABS and using the recommended settings. Frankly I bought this machine to print. Not to tinker endlessly with hundreds of settings. But I'll give it another try after 2 weeks of failing to print decently. I made a front/ top enclosure to keep the warmth in. I tried printing cooler and I get get poor layer adhesesion. This print is already way too weak for ABS. I think printing hotter may make support removal even more difficult. Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong here? I'd be much obliged.

Thanks, Maarten

324646454_UMprintissues.thumb.jpg.10e4be10b71498e91b16308c20b65b76.jpg

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · weak print with too strong support

    I have a UM3E so I'm not too sure if the settings are exactly the same on an UM2+ or not. However, I can tell you from experience that removing ABS support is hard and a lot of work, especially is you use the Support Roof feature to have a nice flat bottom surface on your print.

     

    The last time I did an ABS print was for a mobile phone support for a car, and, once I gotten most of the support out by cutting and such, my associate had to resort to sanding to get the rest of it out and get to the actual part. Hours of sanding, and it was a small object.

     

    For the rest, I'll let people who have experience with an UM2+ help you.

     

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · weak print with too strong support

    What about printing in PET, or NGEN? Would that be an option? They should give better layer bonding, and will probably give a stronger model than ABS? Or just plain PLA if it does not have to withstand temperatures above 45°C?

     

    If tearing and cutting off the supports is too difficult, maybe you could drill them away? If you have a Dremel-style hand drill that can go slower than a Dremel, so it doesn't melt the plastic. Rounded bits as shown below, used in dental labs, work very well (their shaft is usually 2.7mm). You could even use a big drilling machine, if you clamp it to a table, and move the model around.

     

    This short Youtube-video about making a dental retainer shows the idea and tool options quite well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APRw1wgvwy8

     

    Carbide-Cutters-for-Dental-Lab.thumb.jpg.e537fbe888e7bc4704d74f4f62edacf6.jpg

     

     

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · weak print with too strong support

    Thanks for your comment Geert_2, but I really dont think irt should be all that difficult. "Engineered to perform, the Ultimaker 2+ is reliable, efficient, and user-friendly. Thanks to its support of a wide range of materials, it’s suitable for a huge variety of applications, from prototypes to customized tools. " Thats what the Ultimaker saus in their website, and " Optimized for:PLA, ABS, CPE, CPE+, PC, Nylon, TPU 95A". So I expect to be able to du just that. And while I have lots of tools (including all the tools you recommend), I do not intend to spend a lot of time one what should have been a good print in the first time. I am having the printer looked at by a technician right now, I hope that will improve things. But frankly, if Ultimaker printers do not handle ABS well, they should be honest about it on their website.

    regards, Maarten

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · weak print with too strong support

    From what you said, @Flutelab, it feels like you were expecting something that was plug-and-play, or hit-print-and-forget, to be more accurate. I'm afraid that, unfortunately, the technology available to us for 3D printing isn't yet at this level of refinement, and probably won't be until we manage to invent something resembling the replicators in Star Trek which manipulates matter at the atomic level and uses micro-gravitational field as support for things that need it.

     

    No matter what brand of printer you buy, or what kind of technology you chose to use, you will always have to fiddle with the settings to achieve the results you're looking for, make test to see with your eyes how the material you're using works in certain situation, and need tools to remove support in some situations. It's a simple fact of the 3D printing technology at the moment.

     

    Ultimaker has done a very awesome job creating generic profiles for their materials, but they're generic and thus they'll require fiddling to fit your particular needs. And, so far, I've been very satisfied with their filaments, but I've spent countless hours doing some testing to see how they react in certain situations, the effects of support, dual extrusion and so on, to get the experience and the answers.

     

    If you're not ready to spend time before the print, to prepare it, and after the print, to clean it and such, maybe 3D printing is not for you.

    • Like 1
    Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · weak print with too strong support

    Dear Brulti

    I have e printed for yours now, starting with a mendel I built myself, and with my old Tiertime Up Plus2 I had pretty much a hit print-ready experience. Though the prints were not nearly as good as what Ultimaker makes, and very limited in materials. But if I were prepared ti spend a lot of time tuning the printer and Cura settings and finishing prints, I could grab a Prusa clone from Gearbest for USD 300.  But the UM is touted as a professional printer and priced accordingly. So yes, I do expect to be able to get my production going. Need these prints.

    regards, Maarten

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · weak print with too strong support

    Tuning a printer is a big part of the process in any machine like this. Even  $5million Heidelberg presses had to be 'fingerprinted' due to the differences in a variety of circumstances. And, people had to man many stations to keep quality up.

     

    Even getting settings dialed in can still need adjustments as soon as you change colors, brands or even the environment can change during seasons and that will affect things like A/C being used or heaters or whatnot.

     

    I see lots and lots of amazing prints in ABS from UM machines of all makes. I also find it interesting that you considered a machine that produced lesser quality prints to be 'hit=print and ready' while complaining that you have to work a bit to dial stuff in.

     

    The thing I find people forget is that once dialed in and understood, it is pretty much a 'hit print and forget' for the most part of any machine well tuned and paid attention to. We just forget that part of the process and expect things to work like our phones and such right out of the box. This will never be the way any physical production machine will operate for quite a while. I do not even see it on the horizon. We can get darned close, but not yet.....

    • Like 1
    Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Posted · weak print with too strong support

    You will be able to get your production going, once you've gotten to know the printer and fine-tuned it to fit your needs. Not before, not right out of the box as you expected. So, in that way, yes, the printed failed short of your expectations, but I'm afraid that your expectations were slightly unrealistic.

     

    Took me months to get to know my UM3E and fine-tune it as I wanted. Nowadays, most of my prints come out as they should, and what fails is usually my fault (bad orientation, glass bed not clean enough, and so on). I've made big sheets with instructions on how to print every material available from UM, do I need glue, brim, the enclosure and so on, and began creating profiles in CURA for non-UM materials and began testing with a hardcore for abrasives. Now it works quite well, and my production runs quite smoothly, but it's been about a year since I got the printer, and I fumbled and stumbled for a while. This forum bears witness to some of my troubles, and the community here has been invaluable in helping me overcome some problems and find solutions.

     

    There is a learning curve with everything, you need to follow it.

  • Link to post
    Share on other sites

    Create an account or sign in to comment

    You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

    Create an account

    Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

    Register a new account

    Sign in

    Already have an account? Sign in here.

    Sign In Now
    • Our picks

      • Introducing Universal Cura Projects in the UltiMaker Cura 5.7 beta
        Strap in for the first Cura release of 2024! This 5.7 beta release brings new material profiles as well as cloud printing for Method series printers, and introduces a powerful new way of sharing print settings using printer-agnostic project files! Also, if you want to download the cute dinosaur card holder featured below, it was specially designed for this release and can be found on Thingiverse! 
        • 10 replies
      • S-Line Firmware 8.3.0 was released Nov. 20th on the "Latest" firmware branch.
        (Sorry, was out of office when this released)

        This update is for...
        All UltiMaker S series  
        New features
         
        Temperature status. During print preparation, the temperatures of the print cores and build plate will be shown on the display. This gives a better indication of the progress and remaining wait time. Save log files in paused state. It is now possible to save the printer's log files to USB if the currently active print job is paused. Previously, the Dump logs to USB option was only enabled if the printer was in idle state. Confirm print removal via Digital Factory. If the printer is connected to the Digital Factory, it is now possible to confirm the removal of a previous print job via the Digital Factory interface. This is useful in situations where the build plate is clear, but the operator forgot to select Confirm removal on the printer’s display. Visit this page for more information about this feature.
        • 0 replies
    ×
    ×
    • Create New...