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Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas


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Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

I guess we're all waiting for Ian and Geeks to finish up their designs. In the mean time I figured I'd put mine up in case someone likes it and wants to try it out. Personally I'll keep using it, since I like it :)

Note that you'll need to customize the firmware to run the feeder in reverse. Alternatively you can mirror the print of the body, that might be easier if you're not comfortable mucking around with custom firmware :) (personally I feel it gets a bit awkward to operate the lever on the left side if you're using a reel.

I didn't put much effort into the description, if you decide to try this one out and you're having trouble figuring out how it all goes together (I put up a transparent render to give an idea), let me know and I'll update. Didn't want to put much time into it since the interest is low.

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/alternative-um2-feeder

 

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    It looks good Robert!

    Alternative to changing software or mirror prints, you can swap the polarity of one of the pairs driving the stepper and it will reverse the direction.

    Bertho

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    It looks good Robert!

    Alternative to changing software or mirror prints, you can swap the polarity of one of the pairs driving the stepper and it will reverse the direction.

    Bertho

     

    Thats a GOOD point because i think there are only a few freaks around which are able to change the firmware...

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hello,

     

    Well, I could try again extrusions. I remade new tests with the test file . The round 3mm3 / s - 10mm3 / s. At the moment , I have some very almost invisible holes on 8mm3 / s but still I climb on 10mm / s and finished without holes impression. :grin:

     

    I believe that my system loading wire is " mature " and it can be suitable for a large number of users .

     

    I regret little return for the time testers that I sought. I propose two options to choose from. :roll:

     

    1 / I raise a test campaign with me who so request . In terms they are willing to spend a little time to print my charger and test rounds and their own designs or designs. Do not forget to show some pictures of the installation so that I can give you additional information .

     

    2 / I can directly put on youmagine all files including gcode and images. But at this point, the system will take over comments to indicate what will or not .

     

    At this stage of my design, I shall see no inconveignant to post Youmagine . I would even want to do now. :mrgreen:

     

    I hope to have some nice back and see the mechanism work for you as well as me .

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    I updated my version of the feeder it is now Version 3.1. Link is in Signature

    Also i would like to ask all people to share the scad or solidwork files so they can easier be modified by people for specific needs. Like FlexPLA or other cases where changes might be needed.

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    hi guys.

    Sorry I have been gone a while.

    I have to change some things in my life at the moment and needed some time to concentrate and make decisions.

    But like any good healthy ultimaker addict.. the itch for getting back to feeder development is wayyyy to strong ;-)

    So I am going to put some big fire under this development project of ours the next few days and ratlle and roll things and see what comes out :-)

    Nice to be back :-)

    Ian :-)

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hey Ian!

     

    Glad to see you among us.

     

    The Ultimaker2 addiction is a good thing but real life may not be worth this crazy project!

     

    I posted my charger that might have not seen the day without this form. Be our thanks once more.

     

    I see every day the counter is incremented and I look to see if there is a good return.

     

    In the meantime I already think about my future achievements.

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hey Ian,

    good to have you back. The forums were down by at least 89.5% crazyness in the last few days... :p

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hey Ian,

    good to have you back. The forums were down by at least 89.5% crazyness in the last few days... :p

    so I have to make things right... hold on im taking my cloths off now and... where is whip cream when you need it.... all for science of course :-)

    Good to be back ;-)

    Ian :-)

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    im uploading at the moment the printable STL files from my first feeder test rig. I had great results with this simple rig...

    So here you go guys..

    https://www.youmagine.com/designs/v1-ultimaker2-new-feeder-housing-test-p1

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hi Ian,

    Brilliant design! :-P

    You're using 3 ball bearings in this feeder design. Are these identical ones? Do you have some information which type they are? I assume the one at the knurled wheel is from the original feeder.

    Not sure if this information is somewhere in the last posts. I tried to find this information, but was not successful.

    Thanks!

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hi Sigi. the ball bearings are the same as used inside the ultimaker2 feeder box.. so standard ultimaker components.. didnt want to get things too messy with hard to find parts :-)

    Ian :-)

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hi everybody!

    My name is Bas and I am new at Ultimaker. One of the things that I am working on is improving the filament feeder.

    I read the posts in this thread to get more familiar with the problem and I also had a chat with Ian, which was very helpful! The pictures that you guys posted on this forum were also extremely helpful. Thanks to all of you for all your feedback and ideas!

    One of the possible solutions that we are working on is to eliminate the contact areas between the filament and the feeder housing. I printed a prototype of my redesign which we are going to test here at Ultimaker. However, I was wondering if some of you guys (who own an Ultimaker 2) would be interested in testing my redesign. If so, please let me know.

    Attached you can find an image of the prototype I made.

    5a330d52b9b35_20150505_1416131.thumb.jpg.cd796dcac4efb89987d7b7e5270f9cb9.jpg

    The three most important changes:

    • metal ring at entrance
    • bowden tube runs deeper into housing
    • removed part of the housing under the feeder wheel where the filament was touching the housing

    Please let me know if you'd like to test this redesign on your UM2!

    Cheers!

    Bas

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Thanks for sharing the picture and design Bas. It looks nice.

    Can you share where the metal ring can be sourced in small numbers?

    I'm mainly missing an improvement for flexible filament.

    For flexible filament, "guides" would need to be added directly after the feeder screw so that the plastic cannot go sideways (or out towards the back for that matter).

    One idea might be to add a "snap-on" part that cover the hole where you can see the feeder bolt. This snap-on would contain these guides and also prevent the filament to go out the back. Do you understand what I mean?

    Thanks,

    Daniel

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hi Bas!

    I really like the addition of the metal grommet at the entrance of the filament into the feeder housing; a much lower coefficient of friction than plastic/plastic, and no concerns with wear over time!

    I would be very interested in testing this feeder design to see if it can help my machine get above 6mm^3/s regularly!

    Danke!

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    i would like to take a look at it. You could send me the files? I mean the Solidworks ones :D

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    im uploading at the moment the printable STL files from my first feeder test rig. I had great results with this simple rig...

    So here you go guys..

    https://www.youmagine.com/designs/v1-ultimaker2-new-feeder-housing-test-p1

     

    Whats the part number for the bearing? I know its the standard ultimaker one, but I don't want to disassemble my current feeder just to get the part number.

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    metal ring at entrance

    Excellent! I love this!

    Also I would love to see either or both of these features:

    1) At least one of the 4 screws should not go through the entire housing so that you can take the cover off without the motor falling down.

    2) Manual release - somehow have something that extends outside the feeder that I can push on so that I can then insert or remove the filament manually. This will solve many issues including:

    - sometimes hot plastic gets stuck in bowden during "change filament" procedure.

    - It's nice to pull out the PLA when head is at 90C to "get all of it".

    - It's good to be able to push on the PLA while the head is hot to see how much force is required with fingers - to get an idea of the correct printing temperature for a new PLA.

    - It's good to be able to push on the PLA with fingers when inserting new filament into the bowden to know how much resistance is occurring in the bowden itself. Sometimes the filament is so twisted/bent that the force needed is excessive.

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hay Bas !!

    very nice work....

    It might be worth mentioning that this development from Bas is designed to address the big obvious problems with the existing feeder design and will allow ultimaker to give its customers a better feeder much much sooner.

    BUT... all the amazing ideas that are being discussed here can and some probably will be adopted into a future better feeder system.

    So if we dont see all ideas adopted into the BAS design now.. we know there is great things to come.. so our efforts here are not wasted.

    Ian :-) :-)

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Just want to put some fire on smoking brains... :shock:

    Still waiting for my UM2 but already have some grazy ideas ... :blink:

    What about to put some gears on the feeder to increase friction...

    Using Ian's "print out mesh spring" to give the bigger wheel some flexibility...

    Bild 19.03.14 Um 12.53

    Bild 19.03.14 Um 12.52

    greets from the swiss alps

    Ralf

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hi everybody!

    My name is Bas and I am new at Ultimaker. One of the things that I am working on is improving the filament feeder.

    The three most important changes:

    • metal ring at entrance
    • bowden tube runs deeper into housing
    • removed part of the housing under the feeder wheel where the filament was touching the housing

    Please let me know if you'd like to test this redesign on your UM2!

    Cheers!

    Bas

    Welcome Bas,

    The improvements are simple and practical. Good work.

    It can be simplified a little bit further:

    Remove the stop for the Bowden so it can be pushed all the way down to the bearing.

    The Bowden will pull up slightly so there will be clearance when there is force on it. Regardless, it is stainless steel against Teflon so even if it would touch during retraction it is insignificant. See

    (I tried to insert a picture, clicked on the Image icon and it asked for an URL, no option for a filemanger to select a picture. I copied and pasted a screen capture, which displayed properly, but I got a message saying "format not allowed". What am I missing?)

    Bertho

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    @Bertho: Uploading images from your computer to the forum is a "bit" convoluted. I made a video for it here: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4525-how-to-upload-an-image-to-the-forum/

    Alternatively you can upload to an image host such as imgur.com but the problem with using external hosts is that the images will inevitably disappear sometime down the line.

    And of course a belated welcome to Bas, nice to see that there's some progress being made at home base.

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Just want to put some fire on smoking brains... :shock:

    Still waiting for my UM2 but already have some grazy ideas ... :blink:

    What about to put some gears on the feeder to increase friction...

    Using Ian's "print out mesh spring" to give the bigger wheel some flexibility...

     

     

    greets from the swiss alps

    Ralf

    i love your idea of transferring the energy to both wheels and then using the suspension system within the second wheel to accomodate pressure on the filmanet and also the changes in filament diameter,,, we only need to find a material that can withstand these changes in pressure over weekes and months... any ideas guys on the right material ??

    Cool work Ralf !!

    Lets keep up this pace.... :-)

    Ian :-)

     

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    Posted · Ultimaker2 Feeder System - Improvements and Ideas

    Hi Everybody!

    As Ian said I am indeed trying to solve the big obvious problems in a quick way (read: without having to build a completely new tool for injection molding). However, after that I would like to work on a new improved design of the feeder mechanism, so all ideas are welcome!

    In case anyone would like to take a closer look on the 3D models of the revised feeder housing, I’ve uploaded the STEP files to GitHub:

    https://github.com/Ultimaker/Ultimaker2/blob/master/1258/1258-B2P-D.STEP

    https://github.com/Ultimaker/Ultimaker2/blob/master/1259/1259-B2P-D.STEP

    :

     

    • Metal grommet: I just ordered a bunch of those rings for testing purposes. Let me know how much you need of them and I’ll make sure that you’ll get them.
    • Flexible filament: I really like the idea of a snap on part that can be used for printing with flexible filament. We discussed a similar idea with Ian. I will definitely keep it in mind as an upgrade.

     

    :

    Great that you would like to test the revised parts. Could you please send me a message or an email with your address? Then I’ll make sure that you will get a sample of the metal grommet.

    @Takei Naodar:

    Of course! You can download the STEP files from GitHub.

    :

    Thanks for sharing your ideas! As said I am at the moment trying to solve the obvious problems in a quick way, but I’ll definitely keep them in mind.

    :

     

    • Embedding image: I also had some issues with pasting an image link in the post and got a message that it wasn’t allowed. In the end I included the image as an attachment to the post, which did work.
    • Teflon Tube: The closer to the feeder wheel, the better I guess. Do you think that the tube will still have a well-defined “end point” in your setup?

    Thanks again for all your feedback!

    -Bas

     

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