T i m wrote:
On 28 Sep 2015 23:19:45 +0100 (BST), Theo Markettos
wrote:

T i m wrote:
Yes. I built a MendelMax 1.5 with / for a mate who would only buy one
(in kit form) if I agreed to help build it with him. ;-)

More costly, but we bought an Ultimaker 2.

Is it also open source OOI? We actually wanted to build something
(open source) so we could then fix it if / when we wanted.

It is, sort of:
https://www.youmagine.com/designs/ul...es#information
They release designs and code but not CAD files.

Having previously had a RepRap that required endless fiddling, we realised
was costing more in time than it saved in money. So we wanted something
that worked out of the box. The files released mean we can repair it or fix
bugs if we have to. Compared with most other equipment the software isn't
terrible, so we haven't needed to go near it.

It's a printer, it Just Works.
Take STL file, load into software, set quality dial, save to SD card. Put
SD card into printer, select file, press Print. Thassit. Oh, and wait
somewhere between 10 mins and a couple of hours.

;-)

Or presumably you can also print direct from a PC (if you wanted)?

You can, but the little ATMega inside doesn't have a lot of RAM so the PC
has to feed it gcode in real time. It's also a USB-serial thingy so not too
quick. Octoprint supports it. It is possible to send gcode to save
downloaded files to the SD to save pulling the card - I haven't tried that.

PLA is 30p/m, and usually an inch cube plastic widget comes out at some
fraction of a metre.

I guess that depends on the density of the print? Ie, if you are
printing 100% (density) and using .3mm nozzle and .3mm layers then
assuming 1" to be 25mm that would be (83 x 25mm / layer, 83 layers?)
more than 1m of filament?

Yes. I imagine it's the same for any printer.

The thing I liked most is there is zero calibration.

Similar with this MM. The X and Y axis positions are set from the home
end-stop micro switches and are not critical (as long as the print job
ends up on the bed g).

The Z axis is a bit more critical re setup but once set (and it takes
about 5-10 mins to do with nothing more complicated that a strip of
paper as a feeler gauge) seems to be pretty 'hands off'.

All this is done in the factory. You do have to level the bed when it comes
out of the box, but there's a step-by-step guide on the LCD.

Ok, if you change the nozzle and the replacement is slightly longer /
shorter then you may have to re-tweek the Z but we printed a
micrometer mount for that so even that is pretty easy / quick now. ;-)

I haven't tried changing the nozzle; they were experimenting with a dual
extruder Ultimaker 2 but it turned out not to be good enough, so they
didn't go into production. Getting the spatial thing right so they didn't
bump into the thing they just printed turned out to be trickier than
expected.

Theo