Mounting Plate for 2 to 1 Mixing Extruder for Geeetech Prusa I3

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Update 12/8/17: This mix/dual extruder could be adapted to a radial fan just like my modification of the 2 in 1 out switch extruder thing I made. If you're interested in developing this, let me know and I'll make a duct and transition piece that you can print and evaluate with a 30 (or 40) mm axial fan. If it looks promising, then I'll make the mounting parts for the fan and the transition piece for a radial fan. Update 1/24/2007: I added some info about my experience with the Cyclops Clone 2to1/Mix extruder near the bottom of this section. UPDATE 4/23/16: I added a plate that allows you to attach a 40 mm fan to the 30 mm fan mounting holes on the Geeetech single extruder bracket that I use with the mix extruder plate. Use 3 mm cap screws to mount the plate to the bracket and 3mm screws or sheet metal screws that cut threads into the bottom holes of the plate. Apply a little heat to prevent cracking the plate as you cut the threads into the hole. This mounting plate allows you to attach a 2 to 1 mixing/switching extruder to a single extruder mounting bracket attached to the X carriage of a Geeetech I3 printer. In addition, there is a spacer, two of which may be needed, depending on how you mount the extruder, to ensure the hot end is lower than the X axis carriage plate. I mounted all the hardware with M3 screws. The thickness of the mounting plate was sized to make use of some 8mm M3 button head screws I had on hand. You can adjust it to meet your needs. I used a good quality fan, you need a lot of cooling (if you are using a clone with poor heat breaks). I also added small aluminum heat sinks to every bit of the upper block that I could. That helped a lot, but was not as reliable as I hoped for at high flow difference between the two sides. I finally insulated the extruder block with thin cardboard on all 6 sides. I used cereal box type paper. That made a significant difference in the ability of the heater controller to hold the temperature of extruder. The main effect though, I believe, is that since the heater can run at a lower duty cycle with insulation on the extruder block, there is less heat flowing into the upper block, and the filament is staying below the melt point farther down the throats of the extruder block, and it probably now works as well as it can. Again, probably not a consideration on the original E3D part. Print Settings: Printer Brand: RepRap Printer: Geeetech I3 Pro Dual Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: .2 or .3 layer 4 or 5 perimeters Infill: 25% Honeycomb Notes: I printed this in ABS because of the heat from the extruder block. With proper insulation of the extruder block and maybe a shield to duct max air to the heat sink will help. A 30 mm fan is normally mounted right on the heat sink. It should be cool enough for an ABS part to work OK. How I Designed This: Sketchup Make 2016