The Ultimaker Factor 4 on our Factory Floor
Our UltiMaker Factor 4 has landed in our showroom and we are putting it through its paces across a wide range of materials.
The founders of fbrc8 have been involved with Ultimaker since the Ultimaker Original kit arrived on our doorstep back in 2012. After assembling the Ultimaker Original kit, we completed our very first 3D print, the 3D Knot by MakeALot in Ultimaker silver PLA, which we still like to use as our first print on any new machine. You can see how it all started:
Over the past 12 years, it's been exciting to watch UltiMaker grow and change and push the envelope on desktop 3D printers, moving from the the single extrusion wooden kit on the Ultimaker Original, to the compact but fully assembled Ultimaker 2 series, and emerging into the dual extrusion space with the Ultimaker 3 series and Ultimaker S-Series.
The UltiMaker Factor 4 not only builds on UltiMaker's existing ecosystem, but improves on the functionality of the S-series to take these machine to the next level of reliability for your factory floor.
The Factor 4 arrives fully assembled--the only thing left for you to do is pop the purge buckets into place, insert your magnetic PEI plate, and plug the machine in and you're ready to start printing. There are sensors at the back of the build plate to ensure that the printer knows the plate is installed, and pins on the front to keep it perfectly positioned.
UltiMaker Cura, beginning with 5.7.1 and higher, is all set for printing with UltiMaker materials on the Factor 4, and a growing number of additional materials can be synced over from the UltiMaker Marketplace.
I went ahead and installed Tough PLA, TPU, ABS and queued up my first prints.
The Factor 4 handled each of them seamlessly, without needing any interference from me beyond popping the print off the bed and confirming removal so the next print could start. I ran prints in Tough PLA, TPU, ABS, and back to Tough PLA again.
While each of the test prints looked great, the improved quality in TPU printing with the direct drive extruder was one of my favorites. The Factor 4 handled the retractions with ease. It also prints in 2/3 the amount of time the same print with the same size Print Core would take on an S-Series machine. While I've only printed with Ultimaker TPU 95A so far, I'm excited to get some 70A TPU in to really put the machine through its paces on the softer materials the other machines struggle with.
In addition to being able to print softer materials, the Factor 4 can print higher temperature materials than any previous Ultimaker machine, with a printing temperature of up to 340º C with the new HT Print Core.
PPS-CF is flame retardant, resistant to chemical solvents, and temperature resistance of up to 230º C. It's a great replacement for a lot of applications that currently use metal filament, while avoiding having to send the parts out for sintering afterwards so that the entire process can be completed in-house in a single step.
Last week, we completed our first print in UltiMaker's new high temperature PPS-CF material on it. Here it is,12 years, 2 months, and 2 weeks after our first print on the Ultimaker Original. We're excited to continue seeing where the journey takes us, and UltiMaker.
How it's going:
Where will 3D printing take you? Our team would love to help you get there.
Leave a comment
Comments will be approved before showing up.
Also in News
Introducing the Drywise
Can I Buy An S5/S3 Maintenance Kit?
One of the most common questions I receive is: where can I find the Ultimaker S5/S3 maintenance kit? While Ultimaker has not released an official S-Line maintenance kit yet, based on our extensive experience building and supporting these printers since their launch, we have put together a package of what we think are the most useful maintenance items to have, and they are now available in our store.
New Engineering Materials
fbrc8 has recently partnered with Kimya Filaments by Armor Group and FiberForce Italy to bring new engineering materials to you here in the US. We'll be highlighting specific materials in an upcoming series of posts, but to start with, here is an overview of some of the new offerings.