Ultimaker

Here is the Ultimaker Operation Manual

Current Status

We currently have two Ultimakers, one in a lightly modified but working state and the other needing some of the same modifications but potentially working.

	Ultimaker 1	Ultimaker 2
Status	Operational	Non-functional
Material	Orange PLA 2.93mm, Packing Factor: 1 Temp: 225degC	N/A

Material Feedstock

Our current preferred supplier of good PLA is Montreal based Voxelfactory, their PLA is reasonably priced and ships fast.

All PLA is hygroscopic (water absorbing) and exposure to moisture over time degrades the material. We have a (mostly) airtight latching storage bin with desiccant (CaCl[sub]2[/sub]) to reduce moisture internally. Store PLA inside this bin, keep it closed and open it only when needed.

NB: ABS and other mystery inventory is stored in this bin as well!

Current Inventory

Material	Diameter	Notes
Purple 3mm	2.916mm	Full spool, Norm's personal stock
Orange 3mm	2.934mm	Partial spool. Density = 1.135g/cm^3
Black 3mm	2.899mm	Partial spool.
White 3mm	2.88mm, Packing Density = 0.5, T=230degC	Requires special settings to print. Density = 1.149g/cm^3
Green 3mm	2.79mm	Full spool
White 3mm	2.78mm	Full spool, unopened. Norm's personal stock
Glow in the dark blue, 3mm	2.983mm	Full spool, unopened. Norm's personal stock
Yellow, 3mm	2.90mm	Full spool, unopened. Norm's personal stock

Components/Upgrades

	Ultimaker #1	Ultimaker #2
Extruder	Standard, upgrade needed (one day)	New Extruder, Boden Tube, and v2 Hot end required
XY Blocks	Standard	Repaired, installed
Bearing Endcaps	Upgraded	To be installed
Motor Mounts	Standard	To be installed
Motor Tensioners	Pending	To be installed
Spool Holder	Upgraded	To be installed
Belt tensioners	Installed	To be installed
Fan Cowling	Upgraded, new one to be printed and installed eventually	To be installed
Z Home Switch Adjuster	Upgraded but problematic	Upgraded
Print bed	Standard	Upgrade in progress
Raspberry Pi	Separate	To be acquired, bracket for mounting to be printed
Motor cooling	None	To be installed
Vibration isolators	None	To be installed

Old Section

(Below to be migrated and re-summarized on an ongoing basis)

Ultimaker #1

The ultimaker which was paid for by the membership is presently hooked up to a RaspberryPi accessible over SSH (see Ultimaker Operation Manual)

Plastic

It is loaded with PLA plastic.

Suppler listing should go here.

Drive Bolt

Update: This issue was solved more permanently with the Extruder Drive Upgrade kit from Ultimaker The original driving bolt for the plastic filament was deemed unsuitable for continued operation and so we bought a new one from ultimachine and modified it for our machine. Hive76 Milled Bolt M8 x 60mm. Fumon was also in contact with the hackerspace which manufactured these bolts and has the CNC drawings to make new ones. The other ultimaker may require a new bolt and the idea was to mill it using these instructions from one of the spare M8 rods shipped with the ultimaker as it fits the most nicely into the bearings in the filament drive system.

Bowden Cable

Update: The issue was solved with the new hotend kit purchased from Ultimaker The original system for keeping the teflon bowden cable was also deemed unsuitable. This was due to the cable coming loose at the hot end side and allowing plastic to build up at the top of the extruder and requiring disassembly to put it back in working condition. This was repaired by placing steel springs along the bowden cable to act as threading for two bolts that act as pull-stops which are then wedged between the wood in the extruder module.

Further Work for Improving Quality

Many thanks go out to all those who helped over the course of improving the quality of prints. At present, we are producing extremely fine detail and can expect only gains in speed and precision from further hardware modifications.

Gcode Tuning see Ultimaker Slicing Page as this will be updated frequently with new profiles.

Ultimaker #2

Currently, the second Ultimaker has been fitted with an experimental dualstruder design with no software or firmware support as of April 2013.

Shopping List to bring Ultimaker #2 up to #1 specs

• New Bowden Tube €15.00
• Extruder Drive Upgrade €22.00
• V2 Hot end Upgrade €56.00

Total: €93 or about $123~ CAD + Shipping

Checklist of mods

• Belt Tensioners x4
• Bearing endcaps
• Revised Firmware

Documentation

• Ultimaker Operation Manual
• Ultimaker Slicing Page