Toolchanging 3D Printing
Toolchanging Printing is the Future
In early 2018 I started discussing the idea of a tool changing 3D printer with some individuals on the internet. This has been something we have talked about as a community for many years and mechanically is a relatively simple problem. But the software was holding us back.
This was a project I worked on at Lulzbot for a period and we worked out many of the issues on that project but unfortunately it was shelved.
In comes e3d-Online to the rescue with their toolchanger eco-system. I was pegged early on to be a tester and gave feed back on the early design based on my experience with Lulzbot. On Christmas Eve in 2018 I finally got my machine and the journey began.
At the time of writing this my machine is fully functional and able to print with 4 tool heads. I have some ideas for qualifying new tool heads using cameras and some probing switches that I would like to implement over the next few months.
This project was uniquely rewarding to participate in the beta for before because e3d did a fantastic job curating the beta community for people who could provide useful and creative feedback and responses to issues found with the machine. Sanjay said it best at MRRF 2019. “Most of the problems have been solved in 3D printing, so we gave the world a whole bunch of new ones. Have fun” Fun is being had.
One of my contributions to the project was being a supplier for side panels for the kits to users in the US. I need to find a way to continue this.
This was midway through my first 4 color print. There are certainly issues with the “print” but they were fixed later that week at the Midwest RepRap show
First fully successful 4 color print- completed at MRRF 2019
A little fun restarting the print - mid process. I actually had to fully power the machine down and use the nozzle as a touch probe to find where the jam happened and then hand edit 700k lines of code out of the program to continue. I ended up having to cancel the print to put the machine in a trailer and drive to MRRF a couple hours later….
