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Modified UM original

Posted: February 12th, 2016, 12:27 pm
by Xeno
As an idea to show what other users have done to modify their UM, and so here is mine

It started as a normal classic UM, and was able get my hands on acrylic parts,
the fit of those parts were not as good as I wanted, and I had to adjust the parts here and there :)

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Some time later I had a new project, that needed higher parts then the standard UM, and instead of gluing segments together, I though about enlarging my own UM,
The original UM hardware is very easy to adjust for a larger format, and only had to solder some extra length of wires for the endswitches.

I just used some old acrylic 8mm material and cnc'd all the parts, most was an easy fix, just add some 20cm between all the walls.
but I had to redo the z-stage, as the rods holding the platform were to wobbly at that height.
so I bought some cheap Chinese guided rails ans such, witch I regret a bit, because you get what you pay for :)

and so the UM++ was born

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It now has a 20X20X40cm build platform, and works pretty good,
you do run into trouble when printing tall object with a small footprint, as at the top the nozzle drag starts to influence the smoothness of the print
and you really need some extra support, to stop it from moving about at the top :)

I also did some soundproofing, by adding rubber between the stepper motors, and (expensive) silent fans, this makes a very quiet printer, and and makes very little noise, and it's great to print at night, and wake up to a finished print.

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later, because of small resonance, I glued all the panels together and added aluminum cross bars to the sides, this stopped most vibrations.
it is still an ongoing project, and maybe I will ad a heated bed, but I still print everything without any real problems.

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Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 12th, 2016, 1:09 pm
by Neotko
That looks quite nice!

You changed the feeder to a side to cut the noise?

The aluminium did help with the vibrations?

Looks quite nicee.

The motor rubber, cut by hand/drill?

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 12th, 2016, 1:34 pm
by LePaul
TALK TO ME ABOUT YOUR SHROUDS!

Since I installed the heated bed, overhands are suffering on the side without a fan.

I have printed some shrouds in ColorFabb PLA/PHA but wonder how well it will survive the radiant heat of the print head.

Here's what I made...test fit..
IMG_0595.JPG
It looks like the ceramic piece above the head needs to rotate a bit...but I am afraid doing so moves the print head out of alignment

I just ordered a hardened nozzle and some Colorfabb XTCF20 Carbon Fiber Filament. That has a "High Glass Temp. (Tg = 80C)" and wonder if this might be a better choice is the PLA is not?

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 12th, 2016, 2:43 pm
by Xeno
- I changed the feed at an angle so it is better accessible from the side.
- The alum cross sections really helped with vibrations, the acrylic is still too flexible at that height.
- the rubbers were cut by hand, and some sharpened brass pipes to cut the holes, they really cut the high pitch noise by 70%
- I have printed a lot of different fan shrouds, I started with PLA, but printing with ABS temp they went soft,
so next was ABS shrouds, then XT, and XT seems to be the winner till now, but the latest XT has a higher temp to print, so the old ones are softening again :)
as long as the fans are running they won't melt :)

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 12th, 2016, 2:58 pm
by LePaul
That was my thought...airflow helps. Maybe some thin alu shield...I have a ton left over from R2's skins lol

I am going to use those wire wire snap locks to splice the second fan into the existing one. Any troubles there? Identical fan...

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 12th, 2016, 3:04 pm
by Xeno
LePaul wrote:..I have a ton left over from R2's skins lol.
I Keep on running into fellow R2Builders :)

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 13th, 2016, 7:12 pm
by Anders Olsson
I really like transparent 3D-printers, even though I realize that hiding cables and motors like on the UM2 might make it look more sophisticated for people who are not electronics engineers :)

Stockholm makerspace recently built an UMO with a build height similar to that of an UM2 Extend by the way.
They used wooden panels though, very similar to the original. Meduza might post a photo of that one.

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 14th, 2016, 12:17 pm
by Anders Olsson
Here it is, the Stockholm makerspace hybrid thing :)


Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 14th, 2016, 1:37 pm
by Xeno
It was a good choice to have the sides closed, that is what I should have done :)
and with an UM2 printhead ?, does it really make a difference ?

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 14th, 2016, 6:56 pm
by Anders Olsson
I have no idea why they selected to build it that way actually.

Could ask Meduza about that, but I have a feeling I might get the same answer as when I asked why they built it at all: "Because we could" :)

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 14th, 2016, 7:14 pm
by LePaul
Do the sides being sealed make a big difference?

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 14th, 2016, 9:07 pm
by Meduza
I have posted some more info about our Ultimaker Original+ Exended here: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=49, but you could summarize it just like Anders said, "Because we could" :D
Anders Olsson wrote:I really like transparent 3D-printers, even though I realize that hiding cables and motors like on the UM2 might make it look more sophisticated for people who are not electronics engineers :)
I do not like when people use acrylic as a structural material replacing wood or metal like all the cheap chinese 3dp kits do, since it very often develops cracks when doing it like that with screws and nuts if overtightened ever so slightly, and that is why my engineer side prefer non-transparent printers :-)

Re: Modified UM original

Posted: February 16th, 2016, 10:52 am
by drayson
@ Anders, I really like the idea of the hybrid - how well is it performing compared to the standard UMO head?