3D printer manufacturer Builder has introduced a “Color Mixing” feature on their unique dual-feed extruder.
They say:
We have added a new functionality to our unique Dual-Feed extruder: color mixing”. From now on the Dual-Feed machines are able to extrude 2 colors at the same time resulting in some great new effects. We don’t claim offering full color printing but the Dual-Feed printers are capable of creating some great new effects.
We first suspected this capability during last fall’s London 3D Printshow, where we observed a strange extruder with TWO filaments going into it. At the time, Builder evidently had no software to specifically control this extruder for color control.
But now they do.
In the video you can see how it works. By simply setting some sliders you can select when colors are mixed and changed while a print takes place. In the video it appears that the initial version of color mixing can change colors only once during a print. You upload your GCODE, select the mix ratio and then download the “colored” GCODE.
While one can manually mix colors on almost any 3D printer by simply swapping filaments midway, the Builder system seems much more capable. We also suspect that they may be able to do more than just switching colors with more sophisticated software. We can foresee selection of a color “tone” from a palette based on the possible colors generated from mixing two known colors.
Via Builder