1 Topic by PseudoShooter (edited by PseudoShooter 2015-04-08 19:48:39)

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Topic: Filament Joiners

Hello All

I have a project going where I would like to print a multi-colored piece.

I guess the best way would be to join various colors of filament together into one strand. I'm not keen on pausing prints or feeding filament on the fly.

Has anyone had experience joining filament together or used a filament welder?

There is a promising one available from Spain called the "Fuse" but their website's payment system isn't working.

Edit: I guess the "Fuse" was just a pipe dream. Slow or no deliveries and some units were deemed a fire hazard. Caveat Emptor.

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Improved Da Vinci 1.0 with Firmware 1.2.5 and stock extruder
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2 Reply by carl_m1968

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Re: Filament Joiners

PseudoShooter wrote:

Hello All

I have a project going where I would like to print a multi-colored piece.

I guess the best way would be to join various colors of filament together into one strand. I'm not keen on pausing prints or feeding filament on the fly.

Has anyone had experience joining filament together or used a filament welder?

There is a promising one available from Spain called the "Fuse" but their website's payment system isn't working.


You will usually have no issues with them. Just make sure it is for your filament size and the joint can be confirmed within dimension tolerance.

If try fused filaments on a Bowden set up you might have issues as the pushing force inside the teflon tube could break the fused joint and cause jams or misfeeds. Its better and safer yo use fused filaments on direct drives only.

Printing since 2009 and still love it!
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3 Reply by galaxy99

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Re: Filament Joiners

I've successfully done multi colored prints by simply cutting the filament and chasing it with filament of different color.
Be sure the ends are cleanly cut and be sure to apply hand pressure on the chasing filament as it feeds until it's auto feeding.
With two or three trials, you can get good at knowing when the next filament will extrude (thus sort of planning where the color with start and end and, we're talking centimeters).
Of course, you won't want to do it if using xyz cartridges - you can, but won't have a way of managing what's used/remains on the cartridge.
Recommend zerocart of a resetter...

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Solidworks for models, Netfabb to repair, Repetier/Slic3r and Simplify3D

4 Reply by PseudoShooter (edited by PseudoShooter 2015-04-08 23:14:48)

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Re: Filament Joiners

Thanks Galaxy99.

This was going to be my plan if I couldn't find a decent joiner.

How long are your typical filament lengths? The part I'm making is going to be relatively small so I'm guessing the filament strands are going to be pretty short. I will experiment to see what can be done first.

I have a resetter now, I actually took apart all of my remaining carts yesterday so I can switch to using spools only from now on.

Win 8.1
Improved Da Vinci 1.0 with Firmware 1.2.5 and stock extruder
Arduino cartridge resetter and after-market ABS filament
TinkerCAD, Netfabb, Simplify3D

5 Reply by galaxy99

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Re: Filament Joiners

They're usually in the area of 3 to 5 meters, thus far.
I use Simplify3d and it predicts the amount the project will take so, some fooling around helps dial it in.
It's actually quite efficient this way once doing it several times...
I've had zero problems but, it's not something the kind of parts I make really need. However, I have some ideas for prototype parts (engineering related) that just might take advantage of it.
The most significant thing is in the taking of several centimeters for the mixing of color/filament to move through...
Good luck

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Solidworks for models, Netfabb to repair, Repetier/Slic3r and Simplify3D

6 Reply by PseudoShooter

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Re: Filament Joiners

Thanks again.

I just tried my first attempt and I couldn't get the follow-up filament to load quickly enough. I'm trying again now.

I may pause the print and load the next filament that way...

Win 8.1
Improved Da Vinci 1.0 with Firmware 1.2.5 and stock extruder
Arduino cartridge resetter and after-market ABS filament
TinkerCAD, Netfabb, Simplify3D

7 Reply by galaxy99

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Re: Filament Joiners

... it's all about not allowing any gap between old and new filament, hence my earlier statement, ..."be sure to apply hand pressure on the chasing filament as it feeds until it's auto feeding".

Haven't tried 'pausing' (haven't needed to).

Mac OSX ElCapitan
Prusa i3 (two built from kits), 1 hacked DaVinci
Solidworks for models, Netfabb to repair, Repetier/Slic3r and Simplify3D

8 Reply by PseudoShooter (edited by PseudoShooter 2015-04-09 01:32:31)

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Re: Filament Joiners

I pushed pretty hard and made sure there was no gap to no avail.

No matter, pausing the print, removing and replacing the filament and resuming did the trick. Mission accomplished!

https://scontent-ord.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11146252_10153066116146195_3817487085374115780_n.jpg?oh=a7cd3da88576278d1bccb8433c41f35e&oe=55A5A2FF

Win 8.1
Improved Da Vinci 1.0 with Firmware 1.2.5 and stock extruder
Arduino cartridge resetter and after-market ABS filament
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9 Reply by galaxy99

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Re: Filament Joiners

Verrry good!  Did you use the unload and load? during the pause?  (FYI, if pause lasts longer than 3 minutes, xyz info say's the machine will auto cancel the print)

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Prusa i3 (two built from kits), 1 hacked DaVinci
Solidworks for models, Netfabb to repair, Repetier/Slic3r and Simplify3D

10 Reply by PseudoShooter (edited by PseudoShooter 2015-04-09 01:38:44)

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Re: Filament Joiners

Nope. I just paused and once the extruder parked itself, I ripped out the old filament, inserted the new right to the bottom and immediately resumed. No unload or load necessary. It was about a 30 second turn-around.

I think that bypassing the load and unload ensures that there is a blend of filaments so there is an even color transition between layers and not much chance of the previous layer to get too hard so a good bond would be maintained.

Win 8.1
Improved Da Vinci 1.0 with Firmware 1.2.5 and stock extruder
Arduino cartridge resetter and after-market ABS filament
TinkerCAD, Netfabb, Simplify3D

11 Reply by galaxy99

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Re: Filament Joiners

Cool - another day, another trick!

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Prusa i3 (two built from kits), 1 hacked DaVinci
Solidworks for models, Netfabb to repair, Repetier/Slic3r and Simplify3D

12 Reply by PseudoShooter (edited by PseudoShooter 2015-04-09 01:58:58)

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Re: Filament Joiners

Yes sir.

Thanks again for your imput.

BTW, I found that there is a optical sensor for the lid that is easily covered to prevent the annoying alarm during printing when the lid is up.

Gotta have that lid open if you want to swap filament on the fly big_smile

https://thingiverse-production-new.s3.amazonaws.com/renders/e2/b6/4f/35/02/rainbow_pawn_preview_featured.jpg

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Improved Da Vinci 1.0 with Firmware 1.2.5 and stock extruder
Arduino cartridge resetter and after-market ABS filament
TinkerCAD, Netfabb, Simplify3D

13 Reply by galaxy99

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Re: Filament Joiners

What I like about the 'Pause' approach is better control of when/where the color ends/starts.
Not sure about 'ripping' the old one out, though I have done some ripping during an unload.
FYI - keeping the lid closed as much as possible is important.  It's important to keep the heat in the chamber for plastic bonding, surface appearance and, especially on large parts.  In fact, I keep a cloth over the handle opening.

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14 Reply by PseudoShooter

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Re: Filament Joiners

"Ripping" was just an expression for effect smile. I don't actually physically rip it out, I use the release as designed.

I usually keep the lid closed but in this case I didn't want to have it bind and slow down the change over. It didn't make any difference to the end result. I boosted the extruder and bed temperature a little for this print as well just to be sure.

Win 8.1
Improved Da Vinci 1.0 with Firmware 1.2.5 and stock extruder
Arduino cartridge resetter and after-market ABS filament
TinkerCAD, Netfabb, Simplify3D