My open-source, mostly printed magnetic toolchanger mechanism is finally printing properly and the files are now released on Github!
v.redd.it/usqvwcrc9g9a1
v.redd.itPosted Jan 1, 2023, 3:25 PM UTC
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v.redd.itLooks cool great work! How do you do XY offset calibration? Just wondering if our little camera tool would be helpful for your tool changer.
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Huh, that's a very cool idea! I'll check that cam out for sure! I just did it visually, with a line pattern. One tool printed lines with 10mm spacing, the other with 10.1mm, then I counted the lines from the center of the pattern to the best alignment. That process can definately be optimized
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Ah yes, the good old printed line pattern technique! I made the first version of this camera because I hated doing that on my IDEX machines haha...mostly because I print in ABS and I either had to switch to PLA to use the built-in calibration routines...or I had to wait eons for the heated bed to get hot enough to print a pattern with ABS.
If you're interested, I can send you a beta version of the camera tool to test on your setup. Just fill out your details on the waitlist on my website and I'll get you get soon once the new year gets rolling a bit.
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That'd be cool! Can you ship to europe (switzerland) or would that be too expensive to make sense? Do you think the camera could handle the heat of being next to the print bed during printing? If I can semi-permanently mount it and have the printer move over it for a few seconds after every tool change, it might be useful as a more scientific way of testing repeatability as well ;)
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I'll have to see how much shipping is, but I'll try!
And yes, the enclosures have holes for mounting to hardware, so you could put it in your printer. It probably wouldn't survive being in contact ON the heated bed if you're printing ABS or engineering polymers...but if it's just in your printer, should be fine.
Also, the way it works currently is that it's still a manual calibration process, but it's assisted by the camera. If you wanted to have an automatic tool change check, you'll need to write some extra software for that.
Enter your contact info onto the mailing list and I'll reach out later this month once I can send some units out!
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Great work. What was the use case that pushed you to design and pursue this?
My open-source, mostly printed magnetic toolchanger mechanism is finally printing properly and the files are now released on Github!
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Thank you! I see a big potential in multi material or even multi process manufacturing, for example by combining TPU and PLA in the same print if you want only part of it to be flexible or combining subtractive and additive manufacturing. But to really make use of things like that, we need good affordable tool changers. If the 3D printing community has taught me anything, it's that open source breeds innovation! My hope is that my work can be a base for someone to improve upon to bring the community forward.
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Yeah this looks pretty promising comparing to other multimaterial solutions that requires throwing away a ton of material during tool changing. Although I'm wondering how would you deal with the temperature changes and oozing of material when the toolhead is changing? Will you try to print a short line until the flow is consistent or something?
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For now, I'm using prime towers (a small round tower next to the part that gets printed before the actual part on every layer) which unfortunately wastes some material. Still, far less waste than having to purge the nozzle every time you change colors. I plan to play around with automated nozzle cleaning with a wire brush, basically wiping the nozzle clean before going to the part. Then the prime tower might not be necessary at all.
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One thing you could consider is adding a spring steel plate in the parked positions so it stops oozing. I modified my Raise3D E2 to have these and I don't ever have to print an ooze/wipe tower anymore. Several other printers also have this now (Creator 3/4, Snapmaker J1, etc.)
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I just made this so that guy's friend's left buttcheek can have a different color than the right one of course
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I've seen several posts like this over the past few months and they have inspired me to use more magnets. I have a magnetic fan mount and dial gauge mount. I love the ability to swap tools.
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I don't (currently?) need this, but I find it very impressive! And I'm jaded af. Nice work.
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Wow! That’s damn cool!
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Damn cool Very clean, with the tools to the side like that. I think that would be the way to go for having a tool change
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Nice!
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that’s sick
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Would this work on an original ender 3 ?
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No
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Unfortunately no - you'll need something that moves the print head on both X and Y axis. An Ender 5 should work with an upgraded mainboard
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Looks awesome
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This is cool
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you have a motor on the head... why don't you use it to just lock the tool (ala E3D)? This way you are adding the weight of the motor and the magnets.
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Or this one for open source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFtP9f2YuZw
Very similar to the e3d.
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I actually prefer the jubilee to E3D system but it requires specialized hardware that is not always easy to find
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Everything just needs to be a lot less precise this way. I can pretty much throw a tool at the head and it'll connect. Same thing if it hits a lifted edge on the part or something, the nozzle just kind of flops upwards and then goes back to where it's supposed to be.
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That's awesome.
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Now that's what I call a color swap. Brilliant
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How is it connecting? It sounds like it's either suction or very small hydraulics.
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After experimenting for a while, I finally got my toolchanger to work reliably and print well. All documentation for the tool changer is available in the link below and you're welcome to use and improve my concept! The hotend used here is a Trianglelab Arethusa, the machine is a homebuilt experimental that isn't really documented, but the concept can be adapted to most bowden hotends and CoreXY machines. Keep in mind I'm just a guy on the internet, so don't expect E3D levels of quality control ;) All in all, I'm happy with how it turned out and hope some people out there will find the information useful. Thanks again to everyone who made suggestions in my last posts, you've been a great inspiration!
TLDR how it works: there's a small stepper motor on the head that turns a circle of magnets (alternating north up / south up) to push or pull on the magnets glued to the tools. To dock a tool, the head moves in and aligns opposing poles so the magnets will pull it on. To undock it, same poles are aligned so the tool gets pushed away.
It's documented in more detail on the GitHub page
Some test prints are linked below, the two color benchy is brutal on retractions!
TPU/PLA Wheel
Yin and Yang
Two Color Benchy
This is a genius concept and I love it!
But I also have to ask why you didn't go the E3D way and used a locking key since you already have a servo in there? Ease of production since everything can be printed?
I use something similar like the E3D system on my selfbuilt tool changer (think of a bolt action rifle with a rotating bolt and 3 locking lugs) but I made everything from aluminum as I have access to 5 axis mills and mill-turns at my workplace
Yeah, it's just a lot easier this way because it doesn't require precise parts. The magnets can align a lot of error, I can pretty much throw a tool at the head and it'll probably dock properly lol. An interesting side effect is that the nozzle can "flop" a little if it hits something, like a blob on the part.
The "flop" is something I have noticed disappearing in my system (I used a servo less slide on system with magnets before) and it already cost me a toolhead in a crash when a part lost adhesion and wedged under the toolhead so the magnet mount is definitely a lot more forgiving in this regard. But I managed to get tool change time down to 2.7 seconds with the rotating bolt which I prefer.