Multicolor Filament (5 color) Extruder Feed Block for Bowden Hotend

Description

This Is A Compact 5 Filament Feed Block Manifold , That Can Accept Multiple Filament Feeds From 1-5 Extruders Using Teflon Feed Tubes. A Clamping System Is Included In The Design , To Clamp The Teflon Feed Tubes At The Inlet Ports , So No Need To Fit The Commonly Used 4Mm Pneumatic Fittings . All Parts Are Produced In 1 Print & Are Not Subjected To Any Heat , As It Mounts Prior To The Bowden Infeed Tube . The Out Feed Port Is Threaded 1/8 Npt Which Fits A Standard Bowden Thread , Using An 1/8 Npt Joining Nipple . Alternatively A 4Mm Pneumatic Fitting Can Be Used On The Out-Feed, & A Teflon Joining Tube To Connect To A 4Mm Pnuematic Fitting On The Hotend. While There Are No 5 Extruder Mother Boards That I'M Aware Of , The Main Use For This Device , Is To Allow Up To 5 Filaments To Be Loaded At Once , As Extruders Are Very Cheap On Gearbest. Just Switch The Extruder Plug Prior To Printing To Select The Filament That You Want To Print . If You Have A 3 Color Feeder System , You Can Retract The Filament Aprox 120Mm , Until It Withdraws Behind The Manifold Combining Funnel , & Then Feed The Next Color Filament Back Into The Hotend. The Manifold Block Contains Small Accurate Filament Tubes , So Your Printer Will Need To Be Dialed In Correctly , In Order To Produce An Accurate Compenent. Dont Use Any Support , As You Wont Be Able To Clean It Out Of The Internal Filament Guide Tubes, & Avoid Stringy Filaments , Like Petg , As String Will Also Need Cleaning Out . Our Prints Are In Esun Abs Plus Which Bridges The Tubes Nicely . You Will Need M3 X 30Mm Nuts & Screws ( X 4 Off) & A 1/8 Npt Joining Nipple, ( Avaliable From Hardware & Plumbing Suppliers . & The Teflon Feed Tube. As Npt Threads Are Tapered , They Tend To Split & Crack The Laminate Lines Inthe Print , So A Split Line Is Printed Into The Design , & Held Together With The M3 Screws. All The Clamping Components Are Marked With A Dot , That Should All Be Aligned During Assembly . The Feed Blocks Being Used On Our Machines Are Mounted Directly To A Bowden Head & Are Working Extremely Well .They Were Designed For Abs Plus & Shrinkage Rates Factored In . If You Use Other Materials , You May Need To Add A Minor Scaling Factor To Correct Dimensions. I Also Have Some Mounting Brackets For A Diamond Head Https://Www.Thingiverse.Com/Thing:2333015 But After Using It For Several Weeks , I Had A Lot Of Trouble With Filament Back Feeding The Tubes Not In Use. I Reverted Back To The Single Bowden Head , & Designed This Manifold System , Which Works Much Better For My Needs . If You Find This Useful , Please Post Some Photos , & Hit The Like Button . 28/6/2017 Added A Youtube Demonstration Video Https://Www.Youtube.Com/Watch?V=Yuy5K-6Wzci This Is A Video Of My 5 Color Extruder Feed Manifold Working. I Wrote A Script For Demonstrating The Feed System . It Extrudes 50Mm Of Filament ,Then Retracts 130Mm To Clear The Conversion Funnel & Then Pauses 10 Seconds Ready For The Next Color To Be Plugged In . I Ran Each Color Twice , To Prove That The Stringy End That You Get When Retracting Is Still Able To Feed Through The System Multiple Times Without Jamming , The First Version Worked Fine With Abs , But It Needed A Little More Clearance For Petg To Account For The Stringy End. This Is The New Version Working With All 5 Colors Using Petg Filament If You Have A 3 Color Motherboard , You Can Obviously Program All This For 3 Of The Colors , But It Can Work As A Manual Color Change With The Standard Anet Motherboard As Per The Demonstration . Update 11/7/2017 Added Some Extra Files , Separated The Clamps So They Can Be Printed Separately , Opened The Filament Holes In The Manifold Block From 2Mm To 2.6Mm Which Allows Filament With A Stringy End Or Enlarged Bulb End To Feed Easier Without Jamming . Make Sure The Short Teflon Feed Tube To The Bowden Head Has A Nice Internal Chamfer , That Can Be Cut With A Sharp Blade.This Version Seems Much Better.

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