Multi-Color Single Printhead
- Imagine That
If you ever wanted to print a multicolor or material object you might be a bit informed on the concept but thought you needed a dual printer or more to do it, but what if I told you you could create multicolored objects with a single print head no fancy add-ons just a general bit of code? Below is a perfect example of printing multiple colors on a single print.
Now to explain the what and the how we need to understand our models a bit. The model above is a raised lettering sign this is important because to get this effect you need height now you can do more then one color you could do the whole a rainbow of colors but it has to be on the vertical height only so that means your part needs to sit flat. You need to know the height of each color change you want and make sure it’s thick enough between the changes to give a full change without bleeding threw the old color. On a Model like this Hogwarts Express you could start the gold right at the end of the Red using Cura you can go into Preview Mode after slicing your initial model and on the right of the screen is a slider that takes you down one layer at a time for the total distance of layers using this you can find the point where you want your transition to take place, keep in mind when changing colors you want to start a layer above the final color so for the red base if it was 20 layers high you would want to go to layer 21 this way they don’t cover one another.
Filament Change
Open the “Extensions” menu.
Select “Post Processing” and then click on “Modify G-Code”.
In the new window, click on “Add a Script”.
Select “Filament Change” from the various options in the menu.
Layer: Value for the change to take place.
Click the “Use Firmware Configuration” then the printer will use it’s built in filament change system settings. If this doesn’t work you can use the settings suppled in Cura or customize them to your own.
Alternatively
Before you can use this feature you need to do some quick math.
Under your Print settings take your layer height * (layer number you are wanting the color change at) = height in MM.
Pause at height feature
The Trick to using this script is inserting a pause at height, specified point you want.
The pause at height feature in Cura is hidden in the user interface of the slicer since it’s actually a post-processing plug-in. It can be used before slicing your model, but the more effective way is to use it once you’re sure about your primary slicing settings.
The steps to enable this feature are as follows:
Open the “Extensions” menu.
Select “Post Processing” and then click on “Modify G-Code”.
In the new window, click on “Add a Script”.
Select “Pause at height” from the various options in the menu.
Once selected, you are presented with a range of settings that you need to set to use this feature.
These settings will help you entirely control the pausing of your print:
Pause at: This lets you decide whether you want to pause the print at a particular height or on a specific layer.
Pause Height/Layer: The height or the layer number at which you would like your print to be paused.
Park Print Head X and Y: Resting position of your nozzle when the print is paused.
Retraction: Retraction settings during the pause period.
Extrude Amount and Speed: Amount of material to be extruded when the new filament is reloaded.
Redo Layers: You can redo any previously completed layers to increase adhesion.
Standby Temperature: The temperature of the nozzle while in pause mode.
Part of the fun is discovering the settings that suit your personal needs the best.