Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?
 
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Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?  

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MKEMike
(@mkemike)
Eminent Member
Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

A while back (probably 4ish months ago, but who knows with Covid-time) I saw a post leading to a guy's website and a YouTube video for a  multi-material add-on kit that used a "tree" of 3 Y adapters that mounted above the hot end and took 4 bowden tubes from different spools to do multi-material.  The kit also had a new extruder assembly that took your existing extruder stepper and an additional one and used a sort of clutch on each to select one of two filaments to advance or retract.   There was also just a single microswitch that you would install just before one of your end stops to select the filament color by moving the bed to tap and / or hold the switch to cycle between colors.   This way it did not require modifying the printer's firmware, but just the color change GCode behavior in your slicer.  As I recall, the Y adapter "tree" was green and each filament path had a slightly smaller inner diameter that flared out (by like .2 mm) to match the bowden tubes.  Part of the color change cycle would be to retract the filament to the tree and then pass the end back and forth through the flared part a couple times to eliminate the blob at the end.

The demo video was impressive, including the fact that he was running it on a Prusa Mini and a couple other printers.  As I recall, the kit was about the same cost as another mini.  At the time, it seemed a bit pricey for what the hardware was, which is probably why I didn't bookmark his web site.  But, the more I'm doing manual by-layer color-swaps, I can now appreciate the time and effort savings this little unit would bring.  

Does anyone remember seeing this thing?   Google searches are failing me.

Napsal : 21/05/2021 6:25 pm
Daniel
(@daniel)
Eminent Member
RE: Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

https://www.3dchameleon.com/

Napsal : 21/05/2021 7:06 pm
MKEMike
(@mkemike)
Eminent Member
Topic starter answered:
RE: Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

@daniel

That is the one.  Thanks.   So either the price changed, or it always more of a deal than I remembered.

Now, Does anyone here have one?   How well does it work for you?

 

 

Napsal : 21/05/2021 9:44 pm
Daniel
(@daniel)
Eminent Member
RE: Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

I don't have one, but I find it very interesting, I would also be interested in how well it works. What I still don't understand is whether you can control the color change directly through the C code, i.e. choose the color you want or have to set it later in the C code.

Napsal : 22/05/2021 2:41 am
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
RE: Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

@daniel

I have not seen one in person but you could message this person:

https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/48846-3d-chameleon-mk2-prusa-mini-mounts

--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog

Napsal : 22/05/2021 9:16 am
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
RE: Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

Or ask here:

https://twitter.com/3dchameleon?lang=en

--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog

Napsal : 22/05/2021 9:17 am
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
RE: Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

And not the only one:

https://www.3dbizz.com

--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog

Napsal : 22/05/2021 9:20 am
Daniel
(@daniel)
Eminent Member
RE: Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

Thank you for the info

Napsal : 22/05/2021 5:00 pm
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
RE: Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

Let me know where you go and how it works out.

--------------------
Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog

Napsal : 22/05/2021 5:51 pm
Delete Me
(@delete-me)
Active Member
RE: Anyone remember seeing a multi-material kit for single extruder bowden printers?

I would like to know how it goes too..

Time lapses, please. 😎

Napsal : 25/06/2021 12:37 pm
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