non-grinding feeder for Ultimaker

thingiverse

This feeder can handle retractions with no problems and your filament will stop slipping or grinding. You do not need to use "proprietary" Ultimaker 2.85mm filament anymore as this feeder can handle 3mm and will not deform the filament. From now on you can use 3mm filament with the stock bowden and you will have no problems with jamming. OpenSCAD File is really ugly... needs a lot of cleanup... Update (2013-07-25): The design has several problems: Distance between gears is difficult to adjust. Bolts get loose when retracting filament. I used loctite screwlock. Rubber rollers were too soft and wear was too high. Replaced them by knurled steel rollers -> Maybe higher shore hardness rubber rollers would also do... Added springs for better contact pressure. Sometimes the variable part bends away and the gears jump over the teeth. -> Needs to be fixed by fixed by a guide on the left and right side or by a linear bearing. The bowden clamp riser has a too big bore which leads to clinched filament if high pressure occurs. Don't know if this is really a problem because I used 2.2mm filament and had a clogged nozzle... -> fixed this by a aluminum part (see picture). Maybe we could also fix this by modifying the printed parts.s Instructions You will need: 14 bearings 618/6-2RS (6x13x5mm) some screws, nuts, and washers (M3, M5, M6) bowden clamp: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:17027 rubber rollers I used these http://www.pollin.de/shop/dt/MTE0ODU1OTk-/Heimwerkerbedarf_Eisenwaren/Laufrollen_Raeder/Lauf_Transportrolle_17_mm_4_Stueck.html and cut a M6 thread into the hole. Maybe you can get some from an old printer or copier. It should also work with a knurled wheel. The deformation shold then still be less than with stock feeder as the pressure is much lower. I printed the parts in PLA with 30% infill. Heatbed would be useful to prevent warping but it also worked without one. The bearing holes were a bit too large and I had to use epoxy glue to fill the space. I recommend to calibrate the printer.