One of the original designers of Ultimaker has a really neat project on Kickstarter. Essentially, Joris devised a system that removes the initial Z-Limit axis of the UM1 - extending it up to 3050 MM. Here’s an elephant that was printed using this system;
There’s guide rails and everything to get quickly set up. One of the most interesting parts of the system is the yarn that adds extra support at certain intervals. The project itself will be open source and there’s more information available on the Kickstarter page. I’d love to hear what everyone thinks - For myself, I think this can remove a lot of the difficulties of getting to scale replicas done.
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Hey Alex,
I was just about to make some noise here on Talk, but you already started a topic.
Please spread the word and back the project to make it a successful campaign!
This is the official press release:
- PRESS RELEASE -
Ultimaker add-on creates unlimited print length
Ever dreamed of printing larger objects with your own Ultimaker 3D printer? The Dutch inventor Joris van Tubergen just published one of his latest 3D Print projects on Kickstarter: Z-Unlimited. With this amazingly simple add-on you convert your own trusty Ultimaker into a 3D printer with an unlimited extended print-area in height.
Last summer Joris executed the first project with his Z-Unlimited invention. Live at Schiphol airport he 3D printed a life-sized elephant as a 3D petition against elephant abuse. The installation with five Ultimakers combined with Z-Unlimited was only actively printing when people signed the petition. Since more than enough people signed the petition the life-sized 3D printed elephant was completed within two weeks!
The Z-Unlimited basically flips your 3D printer upside down and moves it all the way up along a wall while it is printing. To convert your 3D printer to reach unlimited height will only take you 10 minutes. And this operation is just as easy to undo.
The basic Z-Unlimited package comes with a carriage set and a rail of 1.2 meters. This will extend your print-area in Z to 65cm high. If you wish to go even higher you easily mount extra length of rails to the system. To get high quality prints all the way to the top Z-Unlimited features a very simple support mechanism that can be adjusted to any height.
www.kickstarter.com/projects/1661525705/z-unlimited-add-on-for-ultimaker
www.rooiejoris.nl
- END OF PRESS RELEASE -
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I saw it on the RapidPro exhibition yesterday, looks good!
Keep up the nice work.
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Great invention! How many spools of pla did the Elephant take?
Cool stuff. Quite innovative.
@co3Dprints, I bought one 2,2kg spool for every column and sliced it in a way that each column weight is less than 2.2kg so in theory you didn’t need to change a spool during printing…
15 Rows [printed one row a day] x 5 columns minus a couple makes it around 62 spools, but i have still orange left overs.
cheers \ joris
