The 'Ultimate Filament Colorer'

[atoff]

This method, as stated in the article, was developed to get away from having to print things to attach to the printer. Attaching anything to the extruder begins to diminish Z axis clearance. Having the sharpie in line with the filament allows for ZERO Z axis loss. Sharpies are cheap compared to inkjet cartridges as stated in the article. Sharpies also provide their own enclosures. The cost of inkjet cartridges would defeat the purpose of NOT buying colored filament. Keep the gears spinning FORWARD!

Name brand ink cartridges are incredibly overpriced, generic ink is incredibly cheap, I don't think CaptainObvious was recommending we go out and buy HP ink cartridges. I think coming up with a system to dye / ink the filament would be ideal, it just has to be done right. it can be done before hitting the cold end, so no issue with Z-height.

As for a system that can produce full color prints, an inkjet "TYPE" system could work, but it would be very complicated.

[Egon van Engelen]

Great idea, thanks for sharing!

[CaptainObvious]

Name brand ink cartridges are incredibly overpriced, generic ink is incredibly cheap, I don't think CaptainObvious was recommending we go out and buy HP ink cartridges. I think coming up with a system to dye / ink the filament would be ideal, it just has to be done right. it can be done before hitting the cold end, so no issue with Z-height.

As for a system that can produce full color prints, an inkjet "TYPE" system could work, but it would be very complicated.

Yes, correct, I was not talking about ink cartdriges but generic ink in bottles, much cheaper like that and easy to mix any colour one would want.

[Geoff]

I mentioned this to my wife, and in about 15 minutes we had come up with about 10 other things to use other than sharpies. She generally buys the school stuff for the kids, and apparently we have a very poor selection of Sharpie colours in Australia, so I personally would look at using something else, then printing an attachable system to the back of the machine, ideally small enough to clamp on the tubing or similar. Going to run a bunch of tests this week, will post pics with diff materials and diff plastics. I would assume clear and white work the best.

[beebenutz]

I mentioned this to my wife, and in about 15 minutes we had come up with about 10 other things to use other than sharpies. She generally buys the school stuff for the kids, and apparently we have a very poor selection of Sharpie colours in Australia, so I personally would look at using something else, then printing an attachable system to the back of the machine, ideally small enough to clamp on the tubing or similar. Going to run a bunch of tests this week, will post pics with diff materials and diff plastics. I would assume clear and white work the best.

I had a gentleman try using 3mm white filament and found the color to be less than satisfactory. Apparently the 3mm white filament also had some lamination issues (this may be due to either too much coloring when added to the white coloring already in the filament, or a mechanical issue with his printer). I am going to try using 1.75mm white filament soon. I will post results!

[beebenutz]

Yes, correct, I was not talking about ink cartdriges but generic ink in bottles, much cheaper like that and easy to mix any colour one would want.

SWEET definitely worth experimenting with!

[Roxy]

I had a gentleman try using 3mm white filament and found the color to be less than satisfactory.....

My Brown Sharpie turned into a light Purple with White filament. And the White I have has lamination issues just like his....


Brown_Sharpie_on_White.jpg

[CaptainObvious]

I mentioned this to my wife, and in about 15 minutes we had come up with about 10 other things to use other than sharpies. She generally buys the school stuff for the kids, and apparently we have a very poor selection of Sharpie colours in Australia, so I personally would look at using something else, then printing an attachable system to the back of the machine, ideally small enough to clamp on the tubing or similar. Going to run a bunch of tests this week, will post pics with diff materials and diff plastics. I would assume clear and white work the best.

I think one of those filament filter thingamabobs could be used as a starting point, put a sponge or a stack of inkpad discs inside and add some drops of ink. Then it would be a matter of finding what type of ink work best.

[Bassna]

Does anyone still use this sharpie trick? Seem's pretty useful.