Multifilament is going “mainstream”
One of the drawbacks to conventional 3D printing, is that you have to print everything the same color. Thankfully, there are a lot of smart people out there, working on this problem, and they have solved it to varying degrees. There are now hot ends up that allow you to print with 2 or more filaments in this multifilament design. This segment of 3D printing is just now, heating up.
First up, is the reason this post came about. Josef Průša posted an update on their Multi-Material print head. I have to admit, this is one of those upgrades I am looking forward to, though, the price is pretty steep. If you have not heard of this, I highly recommend watching this video about it. You can find out more about it, here.
Moving on, there are other makers. First up, is the Diamond head from RepRap.me. Click here if you want to watch it in action. While it is far less expensive than the Prusa version, it is still not exactly “cheap”. There are much more inexpensive knock-offs, but as with all knock-offs, there is a good chance of problems and work needing done to get them to function properly.
That brings us to the E3D variations. They have three different hot ends that work with multiple filaments. The Chimera uses dual hot ends with single inputs. The Cyclops has two inputs and one output. Finally, the Kraken has 4 inputs and 4 outputs. The biggest drawbacks for the Chimera and Kraken is trying to make the nozzles the same distance from the print bed. On the flip side, you can use materials that use different temperatures allowing you to mix filaments easier. It’s all about tradeoffs.
You can find a knock-off of sorts of the Cyclops system as well.
Next up, is the Prometheus System. The prometheus system is a dual extruder system that features 2 inputs and 1 output. The Prometheus system is a hot end and filament and feed system. If you already own a Prometheus hotend, the system costs much less.
On the very expensive side, there is the Mosaic Manufacturing Palette. This is another 4 input, 1 output multifilament design that that mixes the filament before the printer input. This is a more novel approach to the multifilament problem.
Finally, Abuzz Designs did an interview with Jason Powell who has created an actual color mixing delta. this is pretty cool since he mixes filament to produce other colors. This one isn’t available
Hi I’m kind of new to this but i have high mechanical and computer skills I was looking to get Dual Pro E3D Metal Flex Extruder from Tevo with my order. I’m new to this but was wondering if this option is worth the 200$ CND
If you are new to 3D Printing, I would go with the base setup. I believe they still send the titan extruder as a bonus. that works fine for flex extruding as well, when you are ready. There are many options to choose from if you go dual extruder after the fact. It is difficult enough to get one extruder running, let alone two. 🙂
Ok thx bud also I was looking at getting the xl aka 200x280x200 I was wondering if there is a way to increase the size of the build plate down the road?
Yes… with caveats. You can get larger, but you would probably be better off getting a new printer with a larger print area. Because it uses aluminum extrusions, you could get a longer one, and give it more travel. You could go wider… but that would be more difficult, same for up. When I first got mine, I knew you could make it better. Now, I understand it better. I think if I really needed larger, I would go Tornado, or Core XY style for stability. If you need height and not as much X/Y I’d probably go Delta.