Introducing the Ulticrater

Hi WOOFers,

My name is Mark I am one of the officers of WOOF. One of WOOF's purposes is to encourage and enable our members to build 3D printers. In keeping with that goal I'd like to introduce my original design: The Ulticrater. I hope to inspire other WOOF members to also build their own 3D printer, whether it's an existing or original design. Either way it's a very rewarding accomplishment.

I have been working since the beginning of last summer to develop this printer. What started as an attempt to utilize a bunch of leftover parts from other projects to build a cheap printer eventually evolved into something that I'm proud to have my name attached to. My perpetual cycle of design, build, test, repeat has made this a slow road, but a rewarding one. 

The Ulticrater. Pardon my photography skills which leave much to be desired.

The most outstanding feature of the machine is the milk crate frame. From the beginning I recognized the benefit of having a sturdy frame with minimal assembly required. To me the milk crate was the perfect choice. Other than cutting out some ribbing from the sides and drilling a few mounting holes every milk crate is already an Ulticrater frame. The milk crate makes for a compact printer that can be easily transported. I also love how much the milk crate gives it a hipster-hacker look. The only real drawback is an inherently limited build volume. I did what I could to maximize it and it ended up being about 170x155x175mm (not bad considering that most Repraps are no more than 200x200x150mm).

I could go on and on about the printer but I think pictures are much better than words in this case.

My very first test print from about a week ago. 200 microns (medium resolution). One of the things I like about this model is how it demonstrates why a cooling fan is necessary on small layers. This print isn't bad though considering I hadn't installed said cooling fan yet.

Octopus at 200 microns. The dark spots are from a leaky nozzle. It's a relatively simple fix but I was too engrossed with testing the printer to care at the time.

Finished printing a spool holder by Brandon B. This print showed me I still need to dial in my retraction settings. Bowden extruders can be tricky to calibrate, but I wasn't far off.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:30887. This is the same model printed on three different printers, each at 200 microns. Left: my Clonedel's inaugural print. It had some issues. I don't wanna talk about it. Middle: printed on a Flashforge Creator. Came out beautifully. Right: printed by the Ulticrater. Clearly the quality is on par with the Creator (ignoring the leaky nozzle). 

Doing a watertightness test. Jeff 2 and I decided to test our printers by printing some vessels and watch for leaks. My print is on the right. It was a single shell thick and didn't even know the meaning of the word leak.

I have a few videos of printing that were too big for Blogger to post. Follow the links to my Youtube channel where I've posted them:

Printing a comparison part
http://youtu.be/elPq56tUgEY

Fast printing test
http://youtu.be/5qBtARTGfjc


The features of the Ulticrater were either prescribed from the beginning or evolved from the design process. Since it was my design and I wasn't under a tight delivery schedule I was able to incorporate lots of awesome features.

• Machine Design
• Balances ease of assembly, performance, and cost.
• Built into a sturdy, compact frame (perfect for fitting in dorm rooms).
• Little dependency on the features of milk crates which vary from crate to crate.
• Requires no special setup/teardown procedure for transportation. I have literally unplugged the machine then carried it around by one of the crate's handles.
• Parts designed to be printed at low resolution with minimal support (for cost effectiveness).
• Fully reprapable.
• Extrusion
• J-Head hot end with active cooling, a proven design.
• Two piece extruder with auto-tensioning pinch wheel for reliability and quick filament changes.
• Side mounted spool holder means you never have to turn bot around or awkwardly reach around it to change filament. It also fits all popular spool sizes.
• Electronics
• Popular RAMPS 1.4 electronics.
• Single z-axis motor simplifies z movement and reduces motor count.
• Heated build platform with three point leveling system.
• Hall Effect endstops means the bot doesn't rely on a collision to determine when it has reached home.
• LCD interface with SD card reader for printing without connected computer.
• Motion
• Bowden extruder with H-Bot gantry results in low inertia (enabling high tool speeds and reduced vibration).
• Linear bearings for smooth gantry motion.
• A belt tensioning system that doesn't rely on zip ties.
• Machined timing pulleys and GT2 belts for increased precision (10 micron resolution in X-Y).
• Assembly
• Time to assemble bot is less than time to print parts (first time assemblers may take longer). This also gives it a Fibonacci property (ask me if you really want to know what that means).
• Requires only simple modifications of milk crate.
• All parts are designed for bolt together or press fit assembly.

For the next few weeks I'll be in the WOOF room during open workroom times (noon-5 on Fridays) to show off the Ulticrater to anybody who wants to see it in action.

Finally, I'd like to give special thanks to Brandon B. for cutting dozens of 1/4" rods and suggesting the name Ulticrater, Matthew S. for making me consider an H-bot gantry, and Jeff 2 for being a sounding board during the design revision process and encouraging me to set a final delivery deadline. Extra thanks to the WOOFers in the workroom who had to put up with my project consuming table space for the months of development.

Big Red Wiring Update

Big Red's wiring for the axis motors is nearing completion. If you want to help out, learn about wiring, or just observe, we should be getting Big Red moving this Friday, January 9th.

Big Red Wiring

We just received the wire for Big Red. Starting wiring during open workroom today. Come on down and join us if you want to pitch in.

Come One Come All

WOOF will be hosting a "Come One Come All" meeting to introduce UW Students to Washington Open Object Fabricators and the opportunity for hands-on experience in many different disciplines, including (but not limited to): mechanical, materials science, computer science, and electrical engineering.

If you are interested in the many opportunities available to someone with experience building, using, or developing additive manufacturing technologies, join us for our "Come One Come All" meeting; Wednesday, October 9th, 2013. We will start the meeting at 5:00PM in MEB 103, and follow up with a tour of our club workroom in MEB G045.

Project Mondays

The quarter has started and we're busy here in the WOOF room. We have 2 large format printers we are working on now: Big Red and the Kilobot.

Here is a part of the redesign for Big Red's z-axis. 

Mondays at 4:00 PM will be dedicated project time this quarter. Any experience level welcome.

It's still summer... We're still working!

Here's a teaser of something that's been a long time coming...

Stay tuned... We've got some exciting stuff in the works!

Moving Madness

Open Build Friday is cancelled tomorrow due to our in-progress move from MEB 252 to MEB G045. If you want to come help us move, we will have someone in one of the two rooms from 2:00pm until 5:00pm doing moving related things.

For those of you that don't know where G045 is, it's on the ground floor, which is below the 1st floor, near the rapid prototyping lab. Hope to see you there!

Seafair was a huge success!

A huge thanks to everyone who came out to Seafair! We're working on getting a bunch of pictures all together, but for now, here's a notable one:

Way to go WOOF!

It's nearly boat time!

Hello all!

We just heard from the folks at Seafair, and we'll be showing our boats in the Parade of Boats at 12:30pm, and racing at 1:15PM after the military category. We'll be racing last years boat against the new boat from this year.

Come on down and show your support for WOOF and additive manufacturing. Wear your UW colors!

It's been a long process, and Big Red has become quite a bit easier to work with. We'd also like to thank everyone that helped out along the way, from our milk jug collectors to our sleepless printer operators, we couldn't have done it without your contributions.

Planning and pre-heating

The first layer needed a lot of pre-heating to improve adhesion.

Building the walls!

Once the walls were built up, the heating element alone was sufficient for adhesion. Much easier than last year's printer!

Even with the heating element, the HDPE would cool and shrink. Our boat's geometry changed significantly, so we used supports to continue printing.

Eventually the warping got too bad, and we had to stop printing. Our boat is a cool 9.5" tall, and looks great!

Again, a HUGE thank you to everyone who supported us. We couldn't have done this without you! We'll see you at SeaFair!

Two Important Things

First:

Due to our focus on printing the boat this week, we will not have open workroom hours this Friday.

Second (and more important):

WOOF is relocating. We have been reassigned to room G045 (just two floors down in the MEB). Beginning next week we will be moving to our new work space. This is a great opportunity for us to "clean house".

There are many of us who have property in the room (tools, printers, printer kits, etc.). We know many of you aren't around for summer quarter, but if you are local we ask that you come in and remove your stuff ASAP. If you aren't local (or can't make it in soon) please contact the officers so we can account for everything. The new room is smaller so we simply don't have the same capacity for storing things that aren't being used. Also, the less clutter we have to deal with the easier it will be for everyone during our transition.

I hope you have been having a good summer so far and don't forget to be awesome.

-Mark

Summer Workroom hours

Hey you WOOFers! Our summer workroom hours are still every Friday, from noon to five. Come in and work on your projects, help with the boat project, or just hang out!

Workroom Hours This Week

Hey WOOFers,

Some of you have asked about when the workroom will be open this week. We will have at least one officer in the room after noon on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If you need help finishing your Grawmet 2 or want to help out building the boat come on in and get some work done. Good luck with the rest of your finals.

-Mark

WOOFers,

This is to remind you all that Seattle Mini Maker Faire is this weekend! It is Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 6pm located at Seattle Center. College students qualify for the student discount which means a day pass is $10 at the door.

Take a break from studying for finals and check out what awesome things other local makers are doing.

Official website:
http://makerfaireseattle.com/

Hope to see you there!

-Mark

Sustainability at UW!

One of our "things" here at WOOF is recycling. Big Red feeds on the delicious flakes of milk jugs that we collect from the community. But milk jugs are hard to deal with. They're mostly air, so you don't get very much material per jug, they shrink a lot when you print with them, and they smell terrible.

We have been quietly experimenting with grinding up the forks, spoons, and knives used on the UW campus, for use in large scale 3D printing. The iconic brown utensils are made from a biodegradable plastic, PLA (PolyLactic Acid), which lends itself quite nicely to 3D Printing. Our goal is to divert these utensils from the waste streams and into our workroom!

To this end, WOOF has partnered with the UW Garbology Team! They have a ton of experience with the waste stream on campus, and we are very excited to help one another out. We're hoping to use this material to print some composting bins, which will, in turn, generate more plastic for us to print more bins... A never-ending cycle!

We've got a collection bin set up in Ian's Domain, located in McCarty hall, and hope to expand to some other cafés on campus. Please consider dropping your forks and spoons in the box (And keep it clean of other stuff, too!).

We're very excited for what the future holds with this plastic. Stay tuned!

(Our first print with the forks. Not too shabby!)

Grawmet 2 Kits Are Ready!

The Grawmet 2 kits have finally been gathered and are ready for assembly. Today we will have our first assembly workshop. Here's our schedule:

12:30 - The workroom will be open. Pizza will be present. This is a great time to come in and familiarize yourself with your kit contents.

1:00 - The first intensive assembly session begins. We will lead you step-by-step through the first stage of the build (up to the extruder).

3:00 - The second intensive assembly session begins. Same as above. This is for those who can't make the earlier one. Like the first session we suggest showing up early to become familiar with your kit.

5:00 - Clean up.

It is highly recommended that you plan to attend an entire assembly session from start to finish. It will make things easier for you and us. This is not to say that you can't assemble your bot if you can't make it, but it will take more effort and initiative on your part. That being said, we're excited to see you today. Hopefully we can get all of these bots up and running before summer break.

General Project Discussion Cancelled

The title says it all. Enjoy your Memorial day!

Any WOOFers adept at video editing?

Hi all,

While the parts for the Grawmet 2 continue to arrive it's time for us to create our video assembly guide. We will be doing a complete assembly of a Grawmet 2 from start to finish on video while explaining each step. We hope this will help in two ways. First, G2 builders will be able to view these videos before they come to build days to help them understand what they'll be doing (and hit fewer stumbling blocks). Second, any G2 builder who can't make it to the build days should be able to follow the video guide to finish their bot.

Here's where we need help. We need a WOOFer (or WOOFers) with video editing experience to edit the footage into easy to follow steps. It's a bonus for us if you can help collect the footage. It's a super bonus for you if you have ordered a G2 kit (just think how well prepared you'll be to fly through assembling yours).

So any of you who are decent at video editing and are willing/able, please reach out to me directly and we can discuss how to go about this. You can reach me at orlrogc-AT-gmail.com or stop by the WOOF room and see if I'm there.

Thanks and don't forget to be awesome.

-Mark

Boeing Rapid Prototyping Lab - Take 2

Hello WOOF members!

We will be scheduling the Rapid Prototyping tour for a Tuesday.  Before I schedule a specific date with Boeing, I need to know roughly how many people are going and ride logistics.

In order to be eligible to come you must E-MAIL me (washuu-at-uw.edu) with:
1) You would like to go
2) Whether: you need a ride - or - you can provide a ride - or - you will meet us there

Deadline is: Monday May 13th

I will NOT count you if you vocally tell me this.  You MUST E-MAIL me.

 Cheers!
Bethany

Field Trip to the Boeing Rapid Prototyping Lab!

Hey all,

We are arranging for a WOOF field trip to the Boeing Prototyping Lab.  What I need from you all is what day would be best for you.

On the WOOF chalkboard has been set up a small poll.  Leave a chalk mark in the column for the day(s) that work best for you.  The "Poll" will be open Today (Fri May 3) through next Thursday (May 9).

Cheers!
Bethany

Finishing Your Grawmet 1

Hey all,

There are a number of you who have not finished your Grawmet kits. We realize that there a few reasons this has happened like classes, schedule conflicts, and/or uncertainty of how to proceed. We want to help you finish up so we're trying something new.

On Mondays after the general meeting, we will begin having structured intensive build seminars. What these will consist of is a few experienced Grawmet teachers leading a group of builders through a specific stage of the build.

The general meeting starts at 4:30. After club business is taken care of we'll start to rock on the builds. Our schedule is as follows:

6 MAY - Base
13 MAY - X carriage
20 MAY - Extruder

After all of these seminars you will be ready to start printing and calibrating. You'll finally be ready to start printing off your own parts on your own machine!