3D Printing in Multiple colours with a single extruder

3D Printing in Multiple colours with a single extruder makenica.com/3d-printing-in-multiple-colours-with-a-single-extruder February 9, 2021

Sometimes, buying a single-extruder 3D printer sounds like you're losing out on a lot of things. You cannot use HIPS or PVA for support systems and cannot immediately print multicoloured patterns. However, dual-extruder 3D printers will cost a little more.

There's already a way for the 3D prints to be multicoloured – it's only going to take some extra time. If you don't mind the extra effort, check out this guide to see how you can use 3D Printing online skills to print multi-color 3D models with only one extruder.

Printing in parts The best way to make a multicoloured print is to divide your 3D model into sections and print those parts separately. This approach is not for all, since you will need specialized 3D modelling and 3D Printing online expertise to pull this off.

If you're only uploading free OBJ files online, you may not even be able to manipulate them freely. Part printing is suitable for 3D models that you have come up with yourself.

Take note that this approach would also have drawbacks. When all the parts are assembled, you're going to have to bring them together and stick them together. This might not be feasible if the model has an awkward angle, or if it's just too complicated.

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This may sound like a rudimentary approach to multicolour 3D printing services, but the effects are generally decent with a little imagination and proper preparation. If you're planning on polishing or post-processing a multi-part model, it's better done before assembly.

Using a multicoloured filament Using a multicoloured filament is quite an unusual approach to 3D printing services in Chennai, if only because it lacks predictability. It requires the use of a filament with a spectrum of colours.

There are several ways to produce your multicoloured filament, either by dyeing a white filament or by fusing multiple filaments of different colours. How many jobs you want to do is up to you, but there's always a way to buy a multicoloured filament.

Multicoloured filament printing results in a model of zones that seamlessly transition from one colour to another. As we have said, this is going to be an innately, unpredictable operation. There is no way to tell in which colour a single element of the model will be printed.

Instead of seeing this unpredictability as bad, this is probably one of the best things to do with this approach. If you print the same 3D model ten times using multicoloured filaments, they'll all come out looking different.

This surprise and variability factor makes this approach of 3D Printing services in Chennai, distinctive and novel. You also may not require any unique process or facilities, except for the multicoloured filament itself.

Swap Filament The most popularly used technique for printing in different colours using a single extruder in the 3D printing services is called filament swapping. It includes delay in the middle of the printing process and exchanging one file for another. It takes more effort to track continually and step in now and then during 3D printing services.

There are a variety of alternatives to this method. You may either pause printing manually or provide commands in the G-Code of the model. This is a lot easier, but it would enable you to know how to write and manipulate G-Code controls. The manual process is still possible if you're ready to do the job.

The number of times you need to swap another file will depend on how complicated your design is. While the approach can seem straightforward, it can be very time-consuming for models that need to be printed in several colours. You can simplify this method by guiding the model to the slicer program so that colour transformations occur conveniently at the plate's boundary. This could not always be possible.

Manual Process

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To do the manual filament swapping, simply pause the print at the point where you want to adjust the colour. Manually lift the nozzle by around 20 mm using your 3D printer program. Strip the filament from the extruder and swap it in the new filament.

Extrude the new filament, meaning that all signs of the existing filament have been eliminated. Catch the scrap filament with the cardboard that you've been laying about.

Then you can lower the nozzle to the original position and start printing. Repeat this step as many times as you need.

Semiautomatic process If you know how to fool around with G-Code, you can make this process a lot simpler. If your slicer software has created the G-Code for your model, use the layer preview to define the layers you want to swap the filament. Write down these as you're going to return to this page several times.

With the layers found, you can go ahead and check for the layers in the G-Code and insert the pause (M600) control. It will be better to pair this with the Z20 instruction, which lifts the nozzle by 20 mm. Do this for any layer that involves a filament swap. Make sure you rerun the layer preview, just make sure the G-Code is running as intended.

With G-Code edits in place, your printer should know that it will immediately pause anytime you need to swap in a new filament. The actual swapping stage is still manual, of course, but this process is much less time-consuming and error-prone.

While filament swapping can still seem to be a simplistic process, it is performed by many 3D printing online professionals. It's the most standard way to address the limits of the number of extruders in a 3D printer – most 3D printers are limited to only one or two. A lot of expertise is required to carry out filament swapping, but the effects are definitely worth the effort.

Splicing of filament Often it is nearly difficult to split the colours of the model into different layers. If this is the case, a single extruder 3D printer with an accessory with up to four separate filaments may be added. This is the principle behind filament splicing – a process that enables fully automatic filament swapping.

The secret to this approach is an adapter for the Palette. The Palette functions by accommodating up to four separate filament spools. Inside the Palette, a process that slices, heats, and splices together some combination of two chosen filaments.

This method is very swift and can be streamlined using the CANVAS hub. The spliced filament is then fed as a single uninterrupted strand to the 3D printer.

What's excellent about Palette is that they've been in business for quite some time. The new iteration, the Palette 2S Pro, is a highly streamlined product with a wide variety of quality-of-life features.

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It's easy to use, doesn't need calibration, has tool-free maintenance, and comes with intuitive software. It's a pretty good-looking product, too, and its modern minimalist aesthetics can match nicely in any workstation.

There's a catch, though – the Palette Filament Splicer is rather costly. In reality, you can buy a dual-extruder 3D printer a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Palette 2S Pro. This brings into question the wisdom of investing in the Palette accessory.

Other technologies: PolyJet Printing This may already be beyond this post's scope, but it is still worth noting how exciting the technology is. One of the most sophisticated ways to print 3D in several colours is using the Multi-Color Polyjet process.

Polyjet uses photopolymer resin as a raw material. This liquid resin is collected on a builtin plate by very tiny droplets and cured by UV light flash. What's interesting about MultiColor Polyjet is that it allows droplets to be coloured before deposition. The product is a full-colour 3D print with vivid hues and a great degree of detail.

Building multicoloured objects using PolyJet process can only be the pinnacle of multicolour 3D printing technology. PolyJet is now a superior technology capable of reproducing highly detailed models using a swift and reliable operation. Combined with a multi-color option, it will be difficult for some other process of 3D printing services to offer a convincing alternative.

The only drawback, as you'd imagine, is that you can't just get a PolyJet printer. This type of printer is costly and is usually only used by businesses or corporations. Instead, you can see the performance of Multi-Color Polyjet yourself by getting a sample printed by a third-party provider.

Cost of 3D Printers Not all 3D printers, 3D objects, printing technologies, materials and user expectations are the same. Costs for your purposes may vary from a few dollars to tens of thousands.

Even so, the price of 3D printers and 3D printing services in Chennai has fallen enormously in recent years. Once upon a time, it was the tool of scientists, engineers, and various industries, but no longer. That said, in most households, it's still too costly to justify.

It's not too expensive, though, for hobbyists, schools, libraries, and the like. Maybe you expect to print a lot of 3D models regularly, either for self-enjoyment or to make money?

If so, it makes sense to buy a printer of your own.

Final Thoughts

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3D printing services in Chennai is just as much a science as an art. Apart from playing around with models to produce the best-looking prints, a 3D printing services professional also needs to understand the subtleties of technology to solve the problems that are bound to arise now and then.

No machine is perfect, and this includes our beloved 3D printers. Whenever we make something out of a model, we can always expect some degree of imprecision about how the final product looks. It is up to the quality of the 3D printer, printer settings, and how 3D printer is maintained to ensure that accuracy is maintained at an acceptable level.

Most people who are excited about 3D printing services are starting with a basic, singleextruder 3D printer. While this is good enough to practice, printing with a single colour can only faint after a while.

However, you don't need to upgrade to a dual-extruder platform only to print multicoloured versions. With a little creativity (and more tenacity), you can "hack" your way to multi-color 3D printing online with just your humble single-extruder printer.

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