3 A few quick notes about our 3D printing setup. On advice from our good
4 friend [Vik Oliver](http://diamondage.co.nz/) in New Zealand, we decided
5 to start with an [Ultimaker](http://ultimaker.com/) kit.
9 We primarily drive our Ultimaker with [Cura](http://daid.github.com/Cura/).
11 So far, everything we've printed has been designed by someone else, but we
13 [OpenSCAD](http://www.openscad.org/) and
14 [FreeCAD](http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/free-cad)
15 to design things in the future.
19 Here are the upgrades we've made so far to the hardware:
21 * Redesigned the hot-end bowden tube clamp. Apparently lots of people have
22 trouble with the stock design, and the most popular upgrade path is to
23 print [Owen's Bowden Clamp](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11864). That
24 would have been fine if we could keep the printer going long enough! In
25 the end, I found a brass 1/4" OD compression to 1/8" MIP adapter at
26 our local [Lowes](http://www.lowes.com/pd_25605-104-A-22_0__?Ntt=a-22&productId=3371688&rpp=16) to use instead. Since I own a set of taps that includes
27 one compatible with 1/8" MIP, it was a simple matter to tap the hole in
28 the top plywood plate on the "hot end", then use a 1/4" drill to open up
29 the hole in the MIP end of the adapter so that the plastic Bowden tube
30 could slide all the way through the adapter. We discarded the brass tubing
31 insert, and used the compression ring and nut to clamp down on the tubing
32 after getting everthing adjusted just right. Works perfectly!
34 * Printed an improved fan duct / shroud for the hot end. The stock fan
35 shroud allows air to blow directly on the nozzle, which was giving us fits
36 trying to figure out what the right printing temps were. We ended up
37 printing one of [Owen's Fan Ducts](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:13625),
38 specifically the "more clearance front nozzle" version, and despite the
39 fact that it came out pretty rough, it works brilliantly.
42 [z-axis stop fine adjuster](http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11033),
43 because the stock mechanical switch was just too hard to adjust, and we
44 got tired of having to manually tweak the Z axis leadscrew at the start
45 of every print. This isn't installed yet, but we hope it will be just what
50 Notes about things learned or observed along the way:
52 * Keep the machine tight! Any looseness in the belts, stepper mounting bolts,
53 t-nut and screw combinations holding things together, etc, will make the
54 machine "sloppy" and lead to crappy results.
58 We're actually pretty happy with how the printer is working now .. will add
59 more here as we learn more with it!