Multi-Material Filament Loader

thingiverse

UPDATE: I have put this project on hold temporarily. I had made some excellent progress, but after careful consideration, I'm uncertain if the significant amount of waste generated from the extensive purging required for using only one hotend and the very long print times make it worthwhile. This concept is indeed fascinating and I might revisit it in the future, but for now, I've decided to shelve it. You can explore the printer I'm developing on our website at https://www.hydraresearch3d.com/nautilus/. This filament loader is designed to automatically load 3 different materials into a direct drive extruder. The design is modular, making it theoretically possible to add as many filament bays as needed. This device is specifically engineered to work with the Duet 2 control boards and I'll be developing and publishing firmware for Duet in the near future. Please note that this filament feeder will not function with a geared direct drive extruder. Your hobbed gear must be directly mounted to the motor shaft on your extruder. You can find the Fusion 360 files in the file section.