dual extruder printer recommendations

I am interested in getting my first 3D printer, and I am looking for one that has a dual extruder. Can anybody recommend one? My criteria at the moment is that it has a dual extruder, that its less than about $400, and that the 3D printer is physically durable. Something like http://www.replikeo.com/en/3d-printe...ruder-kit.html seems to fit the bill, but I have no idea if its any good. I've also been looking a some from Geetech, but I don't know which brands make the good stuff. I am willing to build it from scratch with a kit or even to build it from individually purchased parts if that is a better option (assuming there are easy to follow instructions out there).

Why do you want a dual extruder? I say this because many people buy a dual and never end up using more than one of the extruders.

I want to make use of the conductive filaments for electronics projects. And I'll need to be able to create regions where the material is non-conductive and other regions where the material will conduct electricity. Using a dual extruder seems like a good approach.

... 400$ for that is a tough order.

I'd try to scare you from chinese providers but they're probably the only ones able to deliver in that range. What you'll get though is anyone's guess.

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Originally Posted by djf435

I am interested in getting my first 3D printer, and I am looking for one that has a dual extruder. Can anybody recommend one? My criteria at the moment is that it has a dual extruder, that its less than about $400, and that the 3D printer is physically durable. Something like http://www.replikeo.com/en/3d-printe...ruder-kit.html seems to fit the bill, but I have no idea if its any good. I've also been looking a some from Geetech, but I don't know which brands make the good stuff. I am willing to build it from scratch with a kit or even to build it from individually purchased parts if that is a better option (assuming there are easy to follow instructions out there).

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Buy a CTC printer for $500 - that way you get a dual head and a whole printer. Yes they are crap, but no worse than a $400 Geetech printer.

Don't let ANYONE turn you off dual colour printing. Stand strong, tell them to eat your shorts. Yes you guessed it, they tried to stop me too :p

When I first was shopping for printers on 2011 there wasn't alot of choices. There was flashforge, leapfrog, makerbot$$$ and a few others - including the UP printer. I talked to the guys at UP and they told me so many times, dual colour doesn't work, it's a waste of money, no one uses it etc etc. They were so persistant, I got suspicious.

Well, that's because none of their machines had dual heads back then, but flashforge and others had it standard. I wondered - why am I paying $2000 for an Up but a flashforge with dual heads is only $1300? So I went and bought the flashforge.

Why are two heads better than one? it's not just dual colour printing. Get a blockage you don't want to clear or can't? take the head out, use the other one till it's fixed. Your printer doesn't have to be out of order - ever. Dual prints for using support material like HIPS that dissolves, so you use supports from one head and print the object from the other... among many other advantages.

Don't listen to the naysayers, they generally tell you not to because they didn't buy one and wish they had :p