Two college students invented an adapter that allows 3D printers to print in full color for less than $100

[DidierKlein 729]

What do you think of this?

http://gigaom.com/2014/03/06/two-college-students-invented-an-adapter-that-allow-3d-printers-to-print-in-full-color-for-less-than-100/

Would be good for us but disastrous for filament companies

 

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

It seems to work if you have a horizontal separation of colors. What about a vertical separation of colors? How fast can one change the color?

 

[skint 61]

Nice enough idea, and it clearly works ok. But... would I want it? No.

Cant see the point in horizontally changing colour like that, unless your printing rainbows of course.

 

[jonnybischof 60]

You can make some nice vases with that. I'm more the black / white type though o.O

This can also be done a lot easier (not that good, but it works) by feeding multiple strands of PLA into one hotend, with multiple extruders and Bowden tubes. Somewhere on the forum there was a thread about that. Would be much easier to build and maintain (no dyes needed - what will the dyes cost, anyways?). It's even possible to actually blend different colors together.

Right, I think it was called something with "blend" in it...

 

[athena 0]

I guess the main reason for using this kit is not in creating multi-colored objects - but in creating an object in a single color, exactly the color that fits the purpose of the object. I.e. a vase that is not blue or pink, but a tone that fits your interior. Or a replacement part for something, with exactly the same color as the original.

 

[eldrick 65]

It's just an adapter that holds one or more felt-tip markers against the filament. It only changes color when you change the markers.

 

[skint 61]

Now, if they modified it to insert a chemical that had filament property changing qualities, then that could be interesting. Bottom half of model nice and rigid and Top half of a model is like using flexi filament

 

[he3d 0]

I feel incredible!100 dollars is hard to do it!

 

[duesentrieb 0]

Cool! I would buy one if it is as good as predicted. The real advantage is you don´t need that many spools of filament anymore and you can change between colors without changing the filament. I have about 2 spools of different filaments laying around. And they don´t get better over time...

 

[eldrick 65]

You will only get pastel colors at best, because the color is only applied to the outside of the filament.

You can try it out for free - use some sticky tape to create an "adapter" or hold one or more felt-tip markers against the filament before it goes into the machine. Note that the marker dries out fairly quickly since it is exposed to the air the whole time.

You could easily design and print an adapter to hold the markers in place...