this post was submitted on 18 Jan 2025
15 points (100.0% liked)

3DPrinting

15976 readers
944 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: or !functionalprint@fedia.io

There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml

Rules

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
j4k3@lemmy.world
andypiper@lemmy.world
henry_rowengartner@lemmy.world
GrayBackgroundMusic@lemm.ee
15
On multicolor printing, why does the prime tower have to be as high as the current layer? (lemmy.world)
submitted 2 days ago by Trail@lemmy.world to c/3dprinting@lemmy.world
6 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

Recently bought an A1 mini with AMS, which has been generally great. I have been printing various things, but was thinking if the wasted filament during color changes could be further reduced.

I was wondering, if the color change happens on a high layer, why does the prime tower need to be built as high in order to flush when the color change happens? Is it not a good idea to have the prime tower not generated up until the color change is needed, and then start building it on the plate directly?

This would imply z axis movement whenever the color changes, but is it bad for some reason? It would take slightly more time, but the filament change already takes plenty of time so I assume it is not a factor of the already printed model cooling or so. Could it be something like we want to avoid unnecessary Z axis movements to avoid alignment mistakes maybe with the current layer, if the z movement is not considered precise enough?

Or it is just considered that the aavings of building a shorter tower any not that much comparatively? Anyone more knowledgeable has any thoughts?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago (1 children)

It's so you can't wind up crashing anything into the print. There is only a finite amount you can move the print head back towards the plate (or the plate back towards the head; however your printer works) before you run the risk of hitting the print with some mechanical component. Be it the X/Y axis gantry, the housing around the print head, or anything else. Sure, you could theoretically tune this maximum value to be whatever your particular combination of width/depth/height of toolhead enclosure is, and its offset from the gantry, etc., etc. but 100% effective avoidance pathing is difficult and, in the event your print bed is mostly filled, potentially impossible.

So it's safest to just not do that. It can always be assumed the nozzle can move around at or one layer above the current print height without hitting anything. Below that level is increasingly risky.

[–] Trail@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Understood. Not a factor in what I have been printing so far, but I can see it for the generic case.

Maybe a flag could be nice, but eh. It's fine.