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WIP - hotend fixture redesign

A project log for Tool Switching - Multi Extrusion

A scaleable approach to multi extrusion, easy to adopt in most CoreXY/H-Bot printer designs.

rolmierolmie 08/01/2017 at 07:100 Comments

One issue that became apparent during the first dual print was oozing. No matter how much I retracted the filament while the hotend was parked, there was always a tiny string oozing out. The dual print only finished because Cura distributes the starting point on the prime tower in each layer. Adding a really large prime tower with thin walls finally did the trick.


The current design clearly lacks a feature that stops oozing by blocking the nozzle in the parking position. The hotend fixture only provides close control of the pin positions but leaves a lot of slack for the nozzle, which makes it hard (impossible?) to block it. Experiments revealed that entering and leaving the parking position at the same location gives a high chance of picking up oozed filament that was wiped off the nozzle before. 

Other issues with the current design are

Time for a redesign to address all of these issues. 


A small plug made out of 350°C silicone should block the nozzle. Not sure if I'm able to cast (more like squeeze) this type of silicone in a mold, if so, adding feature to wipe/clean the nozzle should be easy.

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