DIY IQEX?

Pyper

I see all the new IDEX printers out there.
Would it be possible to build one with TWO gantry's with two print heads on each? Independent Quad Extruder?

oliof

@pyper sure search the forum for hash style printer, @o_lampe built one a while ago. RRF3.5 (under development) will allow parallel independent gcode streams so you can even print different models with those independent heads

Pyper

@oliof
awesome, I will check that out!
Thanks!
Edit: That looks very cool, for sure.
I think two gantries would work better though.
One could completely move up Z and be out of the way while the other is being used to print, then vice-versa. With the hash style, all the print heads are at the same height, yes?

oliof

@pyper yes, Z is shared. But independence on all three axes is physically difficult

Pyper

@oliof
what other options are there for 4 color printing?
I'd rather have direct drive hotends (no bowden tubes).
I've dabbled with Kraken and 3D chameleon, but I think 4 separate print heads ready to print are the way to go.
Note: do not search for 'hash' on CGTrader.. !

oliof

@pyper tool changer comes to mind. e3d toolchanger or jubilee for kits, DootChanger for an affordable DIY solution.

Pyper

@oliof The Jubilee looks like the best option for me, hopefully they have an active support group. I already have a corexy machine I may be able to adapt! Thank you!

o_lampe

@pyper said in DIY IQEX?:

I think two gantries would work better though.
One could completely move up Z and be out of the way while the other is being used to print, then vice-versa. With the hash style, all the print heads are at the same height, yes?

You want to build it with a fixed bed and move both gantries up/down? I tried to imagine it, but I wouldn't know where to put all the steppers?
Maybe leadscrews from below? How many steppers for each gantry to move in Z direction? I've used 3 for easy bed levelling, so you'd need 6 then?

I've build the frame with 50cm extrusions and the bed is 30x30cm. I could park the toolheads outside of the bed, so they don't foul when parked.
The printable area is around 25x25cm.
Note: I've named it hashPrinter, because of the same reasons you mentioned

If you happen to build a working prototype, it would be a good candidate for dual gcode streams with meshlevelling. (if that will be implemented somehow)
I hope you share your design?
//edit: just saw you want to go the jubilee route, so nevermind...

oliof

@o_lampe there is ZIDEX which is basically two cantilevers sharing one bed so X and Z are independent (but Y is indexed). I don't really see how you could build a machine with multiple tool heads that can have all three axes independent without collision somewhere. Maybe some smart combination of cable robots.

Pyper

@o_lampe
Instead of two gantries, I wonder if this design would work better with two print heads on each side for a total of 4 print heads (this one only has one on each side):
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4481112
That way you only have one Z to worry about. You can park each head until needed for 4 filament prints, and still do the duplicate/mirror function with just two heads. The hashPrinter can print four at once, definitely a plus over this!

The 3D Chameleon has a pretty neat feature where it uses the print head to hit a switch on the X axis in the right sequence to switch filaments. Maybe you could do something like that with this quad gantry to switch from using the front print heads to the back.
Just thinking out loud..

breed

How bout a quad wall mounted delta. Could have 4 smart effectors. Search Nicholas Seward on yt

pjl

@pyper I feel like @deckingman simply must be mentioned in multicolor printing, his machine is quite astonishing. If you just care for multicolor, rather than specifically having 4 IDEX's, deckingman's approach could be an option. Here's his youtubes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc8AciHjf4I

Otherwise, I'd prefer a toolchanging system a la E3D, than to cram as many gantries in the same space as possible.

o_lampe

@breed said in DIY IQEX?:

How bout a quad wall mounted delta. Could have 4 smart effectors. Search Nicholas Seward on yt

Found this 7 y/o video. Quite interesting, but even Nicholas wasn't too convinced it would be stable enough.
Four of these around a fixed bed would look like a birdcage. Hard to remove parts....

MaracMB

Hey @Pyper

I guess this is too late of a response but i will put my 5 cents in anyways regarding this topic.

I made my daily workhorse merging 2 cheap IDEX machines. Just 2 X-gantries on a bedslinger, one on the front and one on the back, shared Z but 2 independant motors driving it to assure gantry level. X gantries both have linear rails. When built right (parallel linear rails!), it’s easy to use. Tool 0 has a fixed mount while other 3 have a height adjustable mount i came up with.
There are many that say this is crazy and unreliable. I made it and it works. Probably people that dis this approach should first build a machine like that

My main goal was to have one machine for big output of mostly jigs and fixtures, adapters, etc for what FDM is great.
While it does work for multimaterial, it’s not my gig. If at all, i use secondary supports material.

So yeah: Very doable & very price performing results.

I am not that active here last months so joining a “Marx group” on facebook ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/237163797566846/ ) will give you access to my repository and a more direct help if needed.

oliof

@MaracMB Dual X Quad carriage bedslinger is a pretty straightforward and compact way to build a four head printer, even if they are static in their position in Y. As you say, for a number of workloads, this is completely sufficient.

I'd love to see more of your work on this, but I don't do Facebook. So I guess I'm out of luck )-:

MaracMB

@oliof here are some pictures and videos on google drive. Google you probably have

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/17GNqAortkIXxc3fdv3P3tbFUaRGGbXFE

and this is somewhat more ambitious build, quad markforged mockup XY plane, but awesome life happened to me so making it proper and metal is on hold:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbukhT5yJ8k

oliof

@MaracMB beautiful machines. The quad markforged gantry is super clean, I love it!

MaracMB

@oliof thanks .
Wont lie: A lot of thinking went into concepting and construction on both of those.

o_lampe

@oliof said in DIY IQEX?:

The quad markforged gantry is super clean, I love it!

It looks good, but it needs 8 steppers, while my hashPrinter only uses 4 steppers (without racking). And the belts are also longer.

oliof

@o_lampe I like the hash printer gantry you build a lot. But I know that people who are looking for speed like the doubled torque of dual motors per axis, so each design has its place and its space.