Most of the multi color printers out there are AMS/MMU or similar, and there are many DIY options, like Armored Turtle or ECF.
They are an evolutionary dead end. Slow, wasteful, expensive to run.
The Prusa XL, or the Snapmaker U1 are the future direction.
Also a good CoreXY machine like vorons/sovols/ratrigs/VZ, etc can be upgraded with the Bondtech INDX tool changer.
We are talking 5x lower print times, 5x lower material costs.
There is going to be a glut of used Bambus and other multi material unit printers, when print farms unload them, since the tool changers will massively boost their bottom line.
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I think a dual nozzle system is already good enough for most users. Especially when your print area is large enough to make it feasible.
They have their place. If you only do multicolor prints rarely, but change materials between prints a lot, that’s where they excel.
I have both an MMU (Prusa MK3S + MMU 2) and a toolchanger (very custom Voron 2.4 with Tapchanger), and the MMU gets used plenty to swap filament between prints. I look at my toolchanger as being for color prints, and I usually keep 6 colors of PETG on it. My MMU gets used more as the functional printer with all the engineering filaments on it like TPU, PC, ABS, PA. I rarely have to change filament rolls with this setup.
I am also looking at building one of these Swapper3Ds, which should prevent all the waste from printing multiple colors with the MMU.
The swapper may reduce poop, but it looks like it won’t reduce print times.
Also, it looks like it has a ton of failure points. Tool changers are much simpler and faster.
I have no need of this tool changer myself nor am I selling them. But that Swapper IS the OG tool changer. Industry has been using that turret style tool changer since automatic tool changers have been a thing. So there is no new idea involved in this design, just the application.
Those turrets are dead reliable on machining centers and seemingly never wear out. At least I’ve never had to repair one, even on 30 year old machines. To be fair, those are made from hardened steels parts. And not the plastic of the Swapper. Still the design IS well proven on production floors across the planet.
Fun side note: If you look at the photo on their web site, the turret shows 25 slots. But you can’t load 25 tools, you can only load 24. Because you always need 1 empty slot in the turret to make the first tool change. The 25th tool is already loaded in the print head.
As far speed goes, it’s not like you are actually making the tool changes manually. The turret is still much faster than you and the AMS/MMU systems that are common today. Is it as fast as the Prusa XL or Snapmkaer U1? Nope. But speed matters a lot less than being dead reliable. And the Snapmaker or the Bondtech still remain unproven in that regard. The Prusa XL has been proven to be pretty damn reliable, if expensive. If you want a low cost entry, then the AMS/MMU is the proven system.
My personal opinion about the Swapper is-- a cool try, but this isn’t the correct application for this design. It’s too big and the tech isn’t hobbyist friendly except for a tiny handful of users. And it’s an added cost to the money already spent for a filament changer.
The industrial ones may be tough, but the one in the video looks janky and the abundance of printed parts does not inspire confidence in its longevity. Also, it is an addon to an MMU, making the whole multi color set up closer to $500, and limited to bowden, which precludes flexibles. Once a tool has been swapped it must be heated to the proper temp for the filament.
I’m not intimately knowledgeable with subtractive CNC, but I own and have used a lot a hand router, so I’m familiar with the business end of the things. Reliability is not going to be the same with a dry tool or toolhead, than with an oozy nozzle.
The system is for bedslingers only, which are inferior to cartesian or CoreXY cube printers.
The INDX is way more capable, simpler (thus likely more reliable) made by Bondtech, which has a proven reliability and performance record.
The only scenario where I see this being equal or superior to a toolhead changer is, well, none.
If you are actually using it a lot, yeah, definitely.
But a hobbyist that wants to print with support interfaces, or occasionally do some small multicolour prints, or just wants the ability to swap between PLA and PETG without material swaps, they are still pretty great and inexpensive solutions you can bolt on as a simple upgrade.
I kinda view them more as a spool holder upgrade than a proper printer one. And some you can actually swap between printers.
Most MMUs are in the 300€ range. For that money you’ll soon be able to buy an INDX tool changer from Bondtech.
No Brainer.
Anycubic offers them as an add-on for their printers for under ~120€ when purchased with the printer. That’s a reasonable price. But buying them on their own the ~200€ price is a bit much
There is little reason to abandon a perfectly good older machine that still works just fine all because a newer technology shows up. That’s wasteful of money and material in itself.
I doubt there will be a glut of used Bambu printers being dumped by print farms either. They will continue to use those “old and obsolete” printers until they wear out enough to be replaced at the scheduled time. At which point it could very well make sense to swap them out with better tech. As long as that tech works first time, every time-- which hasn’t been demonstrated yet. It’s one of the major reason many print farms use Bambu printers and not Vorons or Crealty printers.
I disagree, but not just to disagree.
AMS is still very useful for having hazzle free filament swaps, keeping the filament dry and with the AMS 2 even drying the filament.
If all you do is multimaterial or multicolour, then sure, INDX/Snapmaker/Vortek is amazing for time and cost saving, but most people at home will never ever be able to reach a volume of poop where it makes financial sense to pay the premium.
The Snapmaker is obviously an exception, but it sacrifices both build volume and a heated chamber to achieve the <1k price.95% of what I do is mono colour, so the ocational toy for the kids with 200g of poop for a 50g part is worth the trade.
People also severely underestimate the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) for many of us. If my missus has to tinker more than 15 seconds before a print, I recieve the brunt if her frustration. It’s quite probable that all these tool-/hotend-swap systems will require some love as well. RatRig’s IDEX and Prusa XL have had many experienced people giving up.
I think this topic is highly subjective and personally just ordered the H2S. Quick math showed me I needed >75 rolls of pure poop before the H2D would make sense, and H2C will cost even more. I’d rather look at these systems down the line when more quirks have been ironed out.
WAF had me laugh out loud.
