Printers

Rotating Nozzle Reduces Filament Waste in Color 3D Printing

Multicolor FDM 3D printing has gained in popularity thanks to innovative systems such as Bambu Lab’s AMS, which paved the way for a new generation of machines capable of handling multiple filaments simultaneously. This system, which quickly inspired other manufacturers&hell

Rotating nozzle
3Dnatives

Multicolor FDM 3D printing has gained in popularity thanks to innovative systems such as Bambu Lab’s AMS, which paved the way for a new generation of machines capable of handling multiple filaments simultaneously. This system, which quickly inspired other manufacturers including Anycubic and Creality, enables multicolored objects to be created with greater precision and ease. However, the process of changing filaments remains time-consuming and generates a considerable amount of material waste, particularly during the purging required to avoid undesirable color mixing.

Against this backdrop, Heinz Löpmeier has developed an innovative solution: a rotating nozzle capable of changing color without purging the filament, thus reducing waste and speeding up the printing process.

Le design de la buse rotative et un prototype

On his X account, Heinz Löpmeier shared the creation of his coaxial nozzle

An Innovative Concept: A Rotating Nozzle

Heinz Löpmeier, known as “sophier” on Reddit, recently shared this innovation dubbed a “rotating mixing nozzle.” This nozzle, unlike the previously mentioned systems, doesn’t require color purging between changes, thus eliminating filament waste. The nozzle works using a Python script in Blender, also created by Heinz Löpmeier and published as open-source on GitHub, which associates specific colors with nozzle angles, enabling smooth color transitions and even “halftone” effects (for gradient effects).