The 'Ultimate Filament Colorer'

[CaptainObvious]

I've seen some similar ideas before, always thought it would be a good experiment to make some sort of attachment to the extruder that would hold a cylinder made of felt or similar that you could soak in ink of various colours.
It should be cheaper than tearing pens apart in the long run since you could refill the ink.... come to think of it I wonder if inkjet ink could be used.... come to think more of it I wonder if some sort of inkjet contraption could be used to paint the filament as it is fed so that the colour could be controlled for full colour prints; like nozzles around the filament as it comes into the hotend.

[Geoff]

oh yeah I'm gonna have to give this one a try!

[Roxy]

I've seen some similar ideas before, always thought it would be a good experiment to make some sort of attachment to the extruder that would hold a cylinder made of felt or similar that you could soak in ink of various colours.
It should be cheaper than tearing pens apart in the long run since you could refill the ink.... come to think of it I wonder if inkjet ink could be used.... come to think more of it I wonder if some sort of inkjet contraption could be used to paint the filament as it is fed so that the colour could be controlled for full colour prints; like nozzles around the filament as it comes into the hotend.

I was thinking that if the pen was carefully altered, it would not be difficult to add ink to keep it strong. The point of the pen almost seals against the filament. If that could be made to seal well, then you could go crazy and have actual liquid in the pen. The easy to get bulk ink on eBay is all water soluable and I don't think we want that in this case.

[Geoff]

I was thinking that if the pen was carefully altered, it would not be difficult to add ink to keep it strong. The point of the pen almost seals against the filament. If that could be made to seal well, then you could go crazy and have actual liquid in the pen. The easy to get bulk ink on eBay is all water soluable and I don't think we want that in this case.

Yeah, ideally you want to print a better cannister and just use the ink fibre inserts - so you make a perma-housing that has cartridges you can replace. I sort of feel sorry for this guy actually, he has a brilliant idea that he could have really developed and marketed - sure im happy he gave it to all of us but still, I don't think eeeverything needs to be open source.

[Roxy]

Yeah, ideally you want to print a better cannister and just use the ink fibre inserts - so you make a perma-housing that has cartridges you can replace. I sort of feel sorry for this guy actually, he has a brilliant idea that he could have really developed and marketed - sure im happy he gave it to all of us but still, I don't think eeeverything needs to be open source.

I wonder if a printed canister could be made to work by pulling the filament through the ink, but not require a super good seal on the bottom of the canister. What if the filament was fed in the top, got deflected down into the ink, and then came back up so there isn't any seal? Then with a little more cleverness, maybe the canister could have a cover that closes when it isn't in use. If that could be figured out, a person could have a canister for every color they want to print with and just snaps the right one into place. (Of course, it isn't going to be that easy or clean. I'm imagining my hands covered with blue and black ink! )

As for Open Source... I like it! I appreciate when somebody talented gives us what we need to make alterations! I am super Thankful! And as a result, I try hard to reciprocate and publish source for anything that might have value to others. I am very Thankful this person shared this idea and if I was able to improve the design and come up with a good method for using wet, bulk ink I probably would be making a post with full source! But of course... people get to pick and choose what makes sense for them!

[atoff]

Yeah, ideally you want to print a better cannister and just use the ink fibre inserts - so you make a perma-housing that has cartridges you can replace. I sort of feel sorry for this guy actually, he has a brilliant idea that he could have really developed and marketed - sure im happy he gave it to all of us but still, I don't think eeeverything needs to be open source.

This would have been something I could have definitely seen on Kickstarter... but in the end, it's easily replicable.

I wonder if a printed canister could be made to work by pulling the filament through the ink, but not require a super good seal on the bottom of the canister. What if the filament was fed in the top, got deflected down into the ink, and then came back up so there isn't any seal? Then with a little more cleverness, maybe the canister could have a cover that closes when it isn't in use. If that could be figured out, a person could have a canister for every color they want to print with and just snaps the right one into place. (Of course, it isn't going to be that easy or clean. I'm imagining my hands covered with blue and black ink! )

As for Open Source... I like it! I appreciate when somebody talented gives us what we need to make alterations! I am super Thankful! And as a result, I try hard to reciprocate and publish source for anything that might have value to others. I am very Thankful this person shared this idea and if I was able to improve the design and come up with a good method for using wet, bulk ink I probably would be making a post with full source! But of course... people get to pick and choose what makes sense for them!

I was thinking the same thing earlier... something like a u-trap where the ink would sit in the trap, filament would enter, go through the ink, and come UP inked... there could be a small fan at the exit point to dry the ink before it reaches the extruder / hotend.

[Roxy]

This would have been something I could have definitely seen on Kickstarter... but in the end, it's easily replicable.

I agree. This is a cool idea. But to try to market it and sell it is going to be difficult. And there is no 'barrier to entry' to keep the competition out of your space. And think about it... 3D Printers appeal to people that want to make stuff themselves. How much could you charge before somebody starts making .STL files to print your own filament dye kit?

I was thinking the same thing earlier... something like a u-trap where the ink would sit in the trap, filament would enter, go through the ink, and come UP inked... there could be a small fan at the exit point to dry the ink before it reaches the extruder / hotend.

Agreed... Please consider this thought: If you made a U-Shaped ink well that the filament went down into and came back up... You have the problem with how much force the extruder can tug and pull on the filament. Right now, I don't see an alternative to having an extra motor to help with the pushing and pulling.

[kikailabs]

We developed at Kikai Labs a post-extrusion coloring of the object using markers… http://bit.ly/1jL7Hks. It works much much better than this method in the sense of making multi-color objects.
Kikai Labs' approach involves a combination of self-developed hardware and software. The method allows for very precise painting, including lettering and even photographic reproductions, at a very low cost.
Check out what it can do:


foto compuesta objetos coloreados small2.jpg

[Geoff]

We developed at Kikai Labs a post-extrusion coloring of the object using markers… http://bit.ly/1jL7Hks. It works much much better than this method in the sense of making multi-color objects.
Kikai Labs' approach involves a combination of self-developed hardware and software. The method allows for very precise painting, including lettering and even photographic reproductions, at a very low cost.
Check out what it can do:


foto compuesta objetos coloreados small2.jpg

Yeah we saw that it's pretty cool, but it seems extremely slow compared to colouring the filament before it goes into the extruder.

I see your adaption as Dot Matrix printing with a 3D printer and coloured pens, almost printing in pixels with the coloured markers - which don't get me wrong is awesome! but you would have to significantly speed it up to come in line with a normal 3D print.

Also have you got an example of printing something in 3D? as in a fully 3D object rather than a 2D object printed out? (the world map looks like a SVG image that's been split into several vectors) For example could you print a Tiger out in orange and have your machine colour the orange and black on it? all around the body, not on one face.

[beebenutz]

I've seen some similar ideas before, always thought it would be a good experiment to make some sort of attachment to the extruder that would hold a cylinder made of felt or similar that you could soak in ink of various colours.
It should be cheaper than tearing pens apart in the long run since you could refill the ink.... come to think of it I wonder if inkjet ink could be used.... come to think more of it I wonder if some sort of inkjet contraption could be used to paint the filament as it is fed so that the colour could be controlled for full colour prints; like nozzles around the filament as it comes into the hotend.

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!