multi color printing

[larrykoskie]

www.ebay.com/itm/201642592810?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I was wondering if anyone had tried to print with two colors using a 2 in 1 out nozzle.  I was wanting to know how to set up a second extruder and how to program the mixing of the two colors.   I have also noticed that they do have a 3 in 1 out nozzle too, but it requires 3 extruders and your electronics board would need to be able to handle a third stepper motor, which mine isn't able to do.  The 3 in 1 out nozzle looks like this one.

www.ebay.com/itm/201642591753?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[larrykoskie]

I did find a 3 color delta print too that looked like it was priced quite reasonable.

www.ebay.com/itm/272353455095?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[jimustanguitar]

The Diamond hotend is the big brass, conical one. I've seen some very impressive prints from them, but I've been told that the colors don't fully mix, so you get gradients and color variation depending on the direction that the print head is traveling. (it comes out of the nozzle kind of like 3 layered toothpaste)

ORDBot solved that problem by adding a motorized mixing chamber that stirs the molten plastic mix into a more consistent color. Their Rova3D is a 5 color printer (CMYK +Black). I didn't back their project on KickStarter, but their pre-orders are 50% off for the next little while. www.ordsolutions.com/rova4d-full-color-blender-kickstarter/ 

For the dual material parts, Look up the E3D Cyclops and Chimera. E3D knows more about hotends than anybody else in the industry. The dual headed one is for two separate material prints (either 2 solid colors or printing with regular plastic and a dissolvable support material), and the single headed one is for mixing two print materials at variable rates. Be warned that the 90 degree angles in the 2-in 1-out hotends require a lot of torque to feed and you'd probably need a pair of BondTech extruders.

[ZionPhil]

Your ORD link is dead Jim...it's dead Jim

[jimustanguitar]

Nov 8, 2016 9:09:07 GMT -5 ZionPhil said:

Your ORD link is dead Jim...it's dead Jim

Weird... It must be a flash thing or some kind of sneaky webpage format. Hovering over "Printers & More" and clicking on the Rova4d item goes to that exact URL.

[larrykoskie]

Thanks Jim for the info. But the real question that I had was, How do you tell the slicer how to change colors and what rate each extruder is supposed to operate at? I know the slicer knows how to print one color without any problems, but how do you add a second extruder and fade from one color to a second color. It is starting to sound like it is more difficult for me to try something like this.

[jimustanguitar]

Every slicer will do it a little bit different. Here's how S3D does it.