1

Topic: QU-BD TwoUp Dual Extruder?

I'm currently looking at the QU-BD TwoUp as a personal 3D printer for various projects. I was wondering - is it possible to retrofit it with a dual extruder, such as their MBE dual, to allow it to print support material?

The majority of the things I would be printing would require support material, and not being able to use it in my printer would be a pretty large turnoff.

If not, what are my possibilities for similar devices around that same price point? My budget, while small, right now is only $400 for the initial system and filament.

Thanks!

2

Re: QU-BD TwoUp Dual Extruder?

For $400, don't expect that much.  The QU-BD TwoUp was made for those on a budget.  It lacks many features which almost all others have, such as simple endstops to home the extruder, a heated bed, and easily upgrade-able electronics.

The Printrboard electronics which it use only support a single extruder, so to support two you would need to buy a Printrbot Extrudrboard, another hotend, more wires, and another stepper motor.  This would all run you more than $100 more to buy and be fairly difficult to get working reliably.  The other option would to be to upgrade to RAMPS, which would cost about the same, but have more room for later upgrades.  Either way, it will also limit your bed space and require major alterations to the x-carriage.  I would only venture into these options if you are already used to and comfortable with working with consumer-oriented 3d printers such as reprap or even Solidoodle.  The maintenance they require is a lot more than one would initially expect.

Unfortunately, for that price point, such a machine does not exist, and probably won't for at least a few more years.

One last note: Keep in mind that support material can be printed using the same material and extruder as the model.  It can sometimes be tricky to remove, but often will peel away easily.  Therefore, dual extruders are not a necessity in my opinion.

3

Re: QU-BD TwoUp Dual Extruder?

Thanks for thr informative reply!

I figured that I wouldn't find something like that within my price point, but it was worth a shot. I've heard of the same filament and extruder being used for support material, but I guess I'm kind of confused on how that works. I would assume that doing that would just have it merge with the layer and be impossible to break off without damaging the rest of the part. Is that something that the control software does, or would it have to be modeled manually?

4

Re: QU-BD TwoUp Dual Extruder?

The software can configure the support material for you, however, all slicing software does support structure a little differently.  I personally prefer to use Cura or KISSlicer for support material.  When the support and model come together, ideally they only touch in a very small area.  If they do, then the support peels right off.  If they don't, it often requires pliers or an exacto knife to remove.