What new printer/extruder features do you want?

[clough42]

I have been thinking about retracting the hot ends for a while. The video below didn't work for me, so I'm not sure what it shows. [Edit: Ahh...beerdart, so this is the spring-loaded hollow-bolt hot ends?] There is at least one rocking extruder system on Thingiverse that uses a servo and a cam to rock the whole assembly left and right, pushing the unused tip onto a metal spring to stop the ooze. There are also various hot end setups that use the filament pressure to force the hot end downward against spring pressure.

I have looked at the rocking option, but didn't immediately come up with anything I loved. The biggest challenge with is the pivot. Getting something rigid, precise and repeatable with off-the-shelf parts (3D printed and common bearings) is tough. Maybe I'll keep playing with it.

Another idea that's floating around out there is independent hot end assemblies that can be picked up by the carriage with electromagnets and parked at the side of the printer when not in use. This would pretty much have to be a bowden setup.