I was looking for some sort of Multimaterial printer and the x2d seems perfect for that. All the tool changer systems are kind off over the top for me.
Still wenn looking at the multicolor capabilities I was wondering if the dual nozzle uses the advantage of one AMS connected to each nozzle.
In theorie that would mean when for example switching from nozzle 1 to nozzle 2 it could also cut the Filament from nozzle 1 and while it is printing with nozzle 2 it could unload and load the new filament for nozzle 1.
Is the system already doing that? If so does it help alot? If Not am I missing a issue that comes with that Idea?
You can not load and unload material in one nozzle while the other is printing. As they are part from the same printing head, and load/un-load require the head to go to other areas for purge and cleaning. And this is not possible while printing on this printer. Some other printer which has two separate heads with their own nozzles, extruders, heaters and etc, maybe able to do that. But not the X2D.
So fo every color change you need to wait the head to stop printing, on one nozzle and switch to the other. If you do not change the material the switch is relatively fast. If you do change materials you need to wait for load/unload and other preparations.
So in theory X2D has advantage only when printing two colors, with supported materials. But also it had disadvantages as AUX do not support all materials and it is much slower.
Thanks for the help! I understand what you mean and that it is not really suited to do a lot of multi color prints.
So I was thinking it could delay the purge until it actually switches the nozzle again.
So while nozzle A ist printing, nozzle B switches the filament until the new one is right infront of the hotend.
When switching to nozzle B it only hast to purge the old filament since the new one is loaded. Doesn’t save Filament but maybe the filament change time
But since I don’t own that printer it is just a speculation. I don’t know hot it works in detail so I don’t know If my idea makes any sense. Like I said it would only save the time to load and unload the filament. I don’t know if that’s 5s 10s or 30s saved.
For switching filament, it also has to cut the loaded filament, which also doesn’t work while printing. The head has to move to the rear, where a small stub activates the cutting mechanism. So you already have two actions, cutting and purging, that can’t be done while printing. The most time consuming part of switching filament is the purging, so there is almost no time to be gained in the other actions.
The VORTEK (H2C) is basically this, to a first order approximation. You should also look at the Bambu Filament Track System that allows AMS-Nozzle connections to be switched.
If you doing multi-colour today, I would get a tool changer such as Snapnaker U1, Flashforge cant remember number, or the new Creality Sparx 8,
If you doing multi-colour tomorrow, who knows? New Bambu machines will probably be announced in November 2026.
If you are doing multi-material, I would get a Bambu. The snapmaker etc don’t like “engineering” filaments.
Oh okay I wasn’t aware that purging takes so long.
So my idea could work but the time saved would not be significant. Maybe only a few seconds.
When switching from nozzle A to B the head drives to the activator of the cutting mechanism and cuts filament A.
→ time lost
Then it drives to the switch position from nozzle A to B. It switches, purges etc. And starts printing
In parallel to point 2 the filament A from nozzle A gets unloaded and new filament is loaded to nozzle A. That works because nozzle a has its own Extruder and AMS.
→ time saved
Then B will purge etc. and print
When switching back from nozzle B to A. Only purging is required since the filament is already loaded
→ time saved
(Point 1 and 5 equal each other out)
Yeah the vortex seems to help with the biggest time-consuming issue. The purging. But I print far to less for that price tag.
Yes track switch for sure would be necessary for my idea
Until today I only print mechanical part or small figurines for table top games. I just used one material. Never bothered about multi color.
The bambu system with heated build room, AMS system, easy nozzle replacement and secondary nozzle for supports and a possible multi color print every now and them just seemed so convenient
You have to know I use a prusa mini xD And all the inconvenience held me back from printing more.
If you load only 2 colors/materials, 1 per nozzle and you do not change them during the print like you print black and white, you will have loading/purging/cutting only from the start and the end. During the print will be just switch of the nozzle with some priming.
If you do change the materials/colors during the print, like blue, red, white and black. Now during the print while no change in color it will be as above. If you change the color then cut, retract, load, purge, prime, print.
For example if you print 1 cube tall 10 layers, and change color in every layer:
In the case of two colors - you will have just switch the nozzle and prime every layer.
In the case of 4 colors you will have - cut, retract, load, purge, prime, print per color every layer - which will add no benefit from the second nozzle. And will be slow like single nozzle printer or more.
Depending on the size of the model this time could be significant or just a fraction from the total time printing time.
The situation is even worse if you do use dissimilar materials like PLA and PETG. In this case it make sense to separate PETG to one and PLA to another nozzle. So here there is benefit form the second nozzle. As if the are on the same nozzle the purge will be much bigger. But then we have AUX extruder which is bowden and not all materials and nozzle sizes are supported. And even then there could be issues. Some people report it is working fine, I am reporting it is not. YMMV.
Edit:
As you can see here load and unload also could have benefit and drawbacks:
I would also mention, that even with one nozzle, printing multicolor with the AMS works great and is very acceptable regarding time for models that use color only in some areas. E.g. before the X2D when I used an X1C, I often printed single color models with some text in other colors in the first 2 or 3 layers or in the top most layers. Even today if the needed colors are already loaded all in one AMS, I don’t bother to swap them around and just print them on the left nozzle only. A few filament swaps really don’t matter that much.
Where it really hurts are those figurines with filament switches on every layer.
For me personally the true benefit of the second nozzle is that I can load different materials without any cross-contamination. That was a huge issue with the X1C. I had to purge really large volumes when printing petg with pla as support. Otherwise, some PLA would get into the PETG part and ruin layer adhesion. Even then, I never felt comfortable that there is no more PLA inside the nozzle.
Oh yes makes sens that switching beween materials is a different story when it comes to purging.
Thats great inside from both of you!
I won’t be an excessive user so I don’t mind a little wased here and there and a longer print time. I mean multi color prints aren’t usually something you need ASAP.
I have read a few threads about the printer and it seems like the oweners are very divided. Some things I think are nit picking and are only relevant for people that want to optimize every bit of it. But some have a valid point. I don’t expect perfect quality from the AUX extruder but it would be nice if it at least just works properly.
Also I am not to sure about all the restrictions from Bambu. It is closed source so it is not as customizable if there is an Issue that just bothers the â– â– â– â– out of me.