Mix and Match Filaments with the Palette

I see a lot of really interesting concepts on Kickstarter. As much as I’d like to cover them all, it seems rather a waste of your time and mine to write an article about some neat idea that is bound to fade into obscurity. It’s like a techno tease.

Fortunately, some neat ideas get enough funding to become actual physical products, which, in turn, gives me a chance to report on them. The Palette is one of those ideas. The Palette offers a new way to mix and match filaments that isn’t dependent on a multi-head design, and it also exists as a separate system, rather than adding yet another plastic filament 3D printer to the market.

This unassuming electronic device could unlock multi-material and multi-color options for your existing 3D printer. Courtesy of Mosaic.

Unless you can buy top-of-the-line equipment, multi-head 3D printers don’t really work as well as might be hoped. This means that most Fused Deposition Modeling style additive manufacturing (AM) systems are stuck printing in a single color (with a few exceptions) or with a single material. The Palette has been designed to solve that very problem.

From the Kickstarter page:

The Palette lets you build an unprecedented range of creations on the 3D printer you already own. The ability to print with up to four colours, or materials with different properties, lets your printer move beyond creating simple, single colour plastic objects.

The Palette accomplishes its task through clever programming and simple logistics. Put up to four different kinds of filament in the system and feed the lead end into your 3D printer. The Palette looks at the design you’re working from and measures the sections of filament required to print each area. It then rolls out the necessary filament, and fuses it to the continuing coil of material being fed into your 3D printer.

The new add-on system for 3D printers has already surpassed its funding goal with time still left on the clock, which means it should soon become a reality. If prices on the Kickstarter page are anything to judge by, the system will sell for around $850. Any AM system that uses open 1.75mm filament, allows access to the filament feed, and runs on .gcode or .x3g will work with the Palette.

It’s hard to imagine when you’ll be able to find a multi-material printer for under a grand, making the Palette a better buy than might first be apparent. Below you’ll find a video describing how the system operates.

Source: Kickstarter