remote extruder with flexible drive shaft

thingiverse

The proposed concept is not printable and serves as a sketch made using Paint. The objective is to separate the heavy stepper from the extruder, similar to bowden-type extruders, to reduce inertia and allow faster axis driving. However, issues with bowden extruders, such as slow response due to friction, buckling filament, and tube elongation, are anticipated. To overcome these problems, a flexible shaft system is proposed; however, potential torsion within the cable requires a worm-wheel gear with high reduction at the extruder for minimal influence. While Dremel tool shafts may be disproportional, moped speedo shafts could provide better alternatives.