Our Ultimaker is soon to be released!

[Ultimaker-Erik]

Hi everyone, great to finally see a 3D printing forum here too!

Sorry for the plug , but I think this might interest you guys if you're interested in 3DP: We're just about to release our Ultimaker design and start offering kits! Be sure to check out the Ultimaker !



3DP is a very low-force process compared to machining. The Ultimaker departs from many conventions in that its mechanics are specialized for controlled rapid moves. It uses (orthogonal) parallel kinematics and a Bowden cable to speed up printing, with acceleration from standstill to 300 mm/s without slowly ramping up the speed. The bot, together with its well balanced extruder carriage allows accurate printing even at higher speeds. It has the largest build envelope of the common open source designs (210x210x220mm) (single toolhead mode)

The extruder is redesigned to be very easy to assemble because it uses a heater cartridge.


More info:
- Ultimaker Specifications
- Bowden cable - on the RepRap Wiki
- About me - I'm a long time RepRap advocate who want to make it easier to get your first RepStrap
- Click for example prints
- More info if you ask me!
- This is a review of our first prototype by a reputable 3D printing blogger "Makerblock".

[crank]

Woohoo!!! How much will the kit go for? If you can't say exactly, maybe a ballpark number? Under $2000, under $1500....?

[Ultimaker-Erik]

Price will be around 1200 euros excl. VAT. You don't need to pay the VAT unless you're a EU (European Union) citizen though. We'll announce the final price tag AND availability very soon!

[crank]

That price is very reasonable for the features. A LOT better than the ToM. No offense to MBI; I was just underwhelmed with the price to features ratio of the ToM. I would have rather had a larger build envelope and a stepper driven extruder than the ABP, etc.... I like the Z stage though. I have a have a slight addiction to open source 3DP. I all ready have a MakerBot and I am just finishing up my first Mendel. I can't wait to get a Ultimaker.

[Ultimaker-Erik]

The ABP is really cool to watch, but the big build envelope kind of makes it obsolete to have one. But there's no reason why you can't add an ABP to it. Because both are open source bots there's no reason not to combine these features. There are enough I/O pins available in the Ultimaker board to add the ABP, or another kind of heated build platform. We'll also be selling upgrade kits to add heated platforms. I've always done it without, printed 2 sets of Darwin parts and a Mini-Mendel on it...

[freddean2006]

Your machine looks great.

One thing I dont get is why the hobby 3d printers are priced so high. £1000 for a 3d printer may be low compared to a commercial unit but is still high as a hobby machine.

Is it priced based on costs or by comparing it to the price of commercial printers.

I do think yours, like the up printer, justifies more of the price given that it uses proper linear rails unlike like the makerbot.

Also I do like that your design is simplified compared to the makerbot or reprap(reprap is held back by its need to replicate itself in my opinion).

Im am in the process of making a 3d printer but have decided to go the cnc machine route so that I have a machine capable of being a cnc machine and 3d printer given that the difference is the head.

[g00bd0g]

I love this machine. I really do. I only have one concern. Ooze... I would like to see some pics of multi-towered objects "before" they have been cleaned-up.