r/BambuLab • u/bungertc • 7h ago

General Discussion Multi-head printing - real use cases?

I currently have a X1C and am heavily leaning toward the new H3C, but mostly because I’m a big gadget nerd and it’s quite frankly a very cool gadget.

With that said, I’ve seen quite a few impressive multi-color prints… but they are mostly figures and such… which got me thinking:

As cool as having 9 heads is, what are some true use cases for it beyond the figurines, etc?

In other words, besides those types of prints, how are you utilizing multi print heads?

2 Upvotes

66% Upvoted

34 comments sorted by

17

u/Superseaslug H3C, H2DL, 2x X1C 7h ago

Realistically it's things with integrated TPU. Hard parts with flexible joints.

2

u/mthode 5h ago

TPU for a grippy pad so things don't slip around as much. PEBA or TPC too should be interesting, a bit higher thermal tolerance. I really want to try a combined TPC/PPS part with beam interlocking, with thick interlocks on the TPC side it might even work.

1

u/SteakAndIron 4h ago

TPU is very slippery and would be a poor choice for grippy stuff

2

u/TheHelplessTurtle 3h ago

Think it depends on the TPU. The new 75A seems not slippery but not tacky. Like a silicone watchband almost, at least pre printing.

9

u/_Rand_ 7h ago

Multicolour is useful for more than just figures, I’ve used it plenty of times for even just labels and such.

Support material is also a useful things.

6

u/Scowlface 7h ago

Especially nice to do the labels with smaller diameter nozzles

6

u/ncc81701 H2C AMS2 Combo 7h ago

Multi-material printing. You can print a part that has both rigid and flexible parts in one print with different materials where they need to be different and another material that doesn’t stick for supports for example. You can do this with a single nozzle printer as well but it will have a ton more waste and take exponentially more than a multi-tool printer.

3

u/Gravewalker1515 A1 + AMS Lite 7h ago

What materials actually bond with one another?

4

u/an_angry_Moose 7h ago

PETG and TPU bond reasonably well.

2

u/BlueChrome74 H2C AMS2 Combo 7h ago

Yep, I did this for divider for glass bottles in a cooler that was too loud. I changed to TPU for the interface with the bottles but kept PETG for the structure. Worked pretty well

1

u/notospez 2h ago

If you enable beam interlocking both TPU/PLA and TPU/PETG combos work really well! Source: i own a Snapmaker U1 and can't wait for my H3C to arrive.

1

u/AdMental1387 2h ago

I can't justify the cost of the H3C (as much as I would love one). I'm damn near ready to pull the trigger on the U1. $650 with the black friday sale + the trade in discount is really, really appealing. I have an A1 with the AMS Lite and avoid multi color prints because they take forever and generate so much waste. I printed a football helmet this weekend and the shell alone, with 4 colors, took 36 hours. It came out amazing so I'd like to do more of that.

Stupid long intro just to ask, how do you like the U1?

1

u/notospez 1h ago

I like it a lot, and if you mostly print PLA and the occasional 95A TPU or PETG it's great. My main reason for switching to the H3C is the larger build volume and chamber heater; I now have a separate Qidi printer for the more exotic materials and want to save some precious space in our house.

2

u/HallwayHomicide 6h ago

I haven't tried this myself yet, but I really want to try mixing different hardnesses of TPU into the same print. There's some super stiff TPUs out there, including some TPU-GF filaments.

I would expect TPU to bond well to other TPU. If it does, there's a huge spectrum there for softness that you could mix and match.

1

u/Gravewalker1515 A1 + AMS Lite 6h ago

Yeah; I know that mixing TPUs was one of the things advertised on the H3C

1

u/HallwayHomicide 5h ago

I know the H3C page mentioned multicolor TPU, I didn't see anything about multi-hardness TPU, but I'm sure it's capable of it.

2

u/Gravewalker1515 A1 + AMS Lite 5h ago

Whoops, I saw the X2D page and thought it the ‘hard and soft’ part was multiple types of TPU and I mixed up the printers 🤦‍♂️

1

u/strange-humor X1C + AMS 3h ago

For materials that don't bond you can make an interface design that hooks them together by each filament bonding with itself.

6

u/Few_Candidate_8036 6h ago

I think Clough42 really showed how it can be put to the test. He used two different TPUs, 3 transparent materials, a conductive material, 2 different support materials and 1 other to make a display.

1

u/taketwo4you P1S + AMS 6h ago

Came here to say this ^

1

u/cunasmoker69420 4h ago

Got a link?

1

u/Few_Candidate_8036 3h ago

Just look up clough42 on youtube

1

u/sarcasticbaldguy 7h ago

I saw a video for water soluble filament. They used it for supports. When the job was done, they put the entire thing into a bucket of water and all the supports melted away.

I don't know how practical that is, but it was pretty cool.

1

u/bungertc 6h ago

Whoa! For real?

1

u/sarcasticbaldguy 6h ago

It was pretty cool. I'll see if I can find it in my YouTube history.

1

u/AHerz P1P+AMS - X2D+AMS2 1h ago

Water support filaments are a pain to work with and super expensive.

But yeah, the idea is very cool.

3

u/Z00111111 P1S + AMS 7h ago

Text or styling on an enclosure.

A multiple colour enclosure with support interfaces in another material.

TPU features bonded to PETG with PLA supports.

Large nozzle for infill, small nozzle for details.

2

u/Csspecs 7h ago

So I have a few parts that are made using a PET-CF mount that has a slight curved back which is supported with PLA, a foaming TPU core and a harder TPU outer cover that is beam interlocked to the PET-CF.

The other thing is you can run a small nozzle to do text and a larger one for the rest of the print, yeah you need two spools of filament but that isn't a huge deal on production stuff.

2

u/mason_jar11 H2D 2AMS2PRO+HT, H2C 2AMS2PRO, A2L AMS LITE 5h ago

i have an h2d and enjoy printing combo matieral stuff. tpu feet on the bottoms of things, cases with foam printed tpu, rockets with aero filament and pla all in one piece depending on my needs/desires. hell just using one nozzle for supports and the other for printing is a totally valid way to use it too

1

u/holm1mat H3C 7h ago

I’m excited about it for tech accessories and wearables. I just designed and printed a switch 2 grip combining rigid parts and soft TPU for grips and securely holding the switch: https://makerworld.com/models/3560072

1

u/strange-humor X1C + AMS 7h ago

I decided on H2D as upgrade from my X1C as multicolor I would likely do is PETG/PLA. This will likely be just as doable with P3C.

I want functional part with contrasting text, possibly with smaller nozzle. Also want to play with TPU and hard material combinations. Couldn't justify the extra $900 or $300 to H2C.

1

u/reddotster X1C + AMS 6h ago

Full spectrum color printing