I’m thinking of building a new printer and would love to be able to make 2 color prints or dissolvable supports. Does anyone have any experience with this. I see 3 paths.

  1. Two hot ends Pros: Most robust No retraction or filament waste Cons: Alignment issues. Reduced travel Dragging nozzle

  2. Dual filament hot end(taichi style) Pros: Easy to mount No offsets Cons: Jamming? Long retraction

  3. Y splitter Pros: easy to mount No offset Compatible with any hot end Cons jamming Super long retraction

  • @rambos@lemm.eeEnglish
    1•1 year ago

    May I ask what is Y splitter? Is that DIY version of 2.?

    I would add 4. Idex printer and 5. mmu. Maybe even 6. manual filament swap (its what I use haha) and 7. Sharpie hack (rofl)

    I never seriously considered getting one myself, but interested a lot. Following…

    Edit: typo

    • @moodyEnglish
      3•1 year ago

      Filament swap is not really a valid alternative when it comes to something like wanting dissolving supports. It’s only realistic if you want to change the color or material for a fairly large consecutive portion of a print. Otherwise you’re going to have to swap out the filament every layer.

      • @rambos@lemm.eeEnglish
        1•1 year ago

        Sharpie hack is also not a valid alternative hehe. These 2 were more like a joke, but for simple designs manual swap works like a charm. Swapping filament every layer would be honest work tho

    • @shitescalates@midwest.socialOPEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      Y splitter is something that goes in the middle of the Bowden tube to allow two extruders. Its similar to #2 but allows you to use any hot end.