Most of the multi color printers out there are AMS/MMU or similar, and there are many DIY options, like Armored Turtle or ECF.
They are an evolutionary dead end. Slow, wasteful, expensive to run.
The Prusa XL, or the Snapmaker U1 are the future direction.
Also a good CoreXY machine like vorons/sovols/ratrigs/VZ, etc can be upgraded with the Bondtech INDX tool changer.
We are talking 5x lower print times, 5x lower material costs.
There is going to be a glut of used Bambus and other multi material unit printers, when print farms unload them, since the tool changers will massively boost their bottom line.
Comments?
If you are actually using it a lot, yeah, definitely.
But a hobbyist that wants to print with support interfaces, or occasionally do some small multicolour prints, or just wants the ability to swap between PLA and PETG without material swaps, they are still pretty great and inexpensive solutions you can bolt on as a simple upgrade.
I kinda view them more as a spool holder upgrade than a proper printer one. And some you can actually swap between printers.
Most MMUs are in the 300€ range. For that money you’ll soon be able to buy an INDX tool changer from Bondtech.
No Brainer.
Anycubic offers them as an add-on for their printers for under ~120€ when purchased with the printer. That’s a reasonable price. But buying them on their own the ~200€ price is a bit much
Is that compatible with other brands? I believe most MMUs are only compatible with their own printers. That’s another advantage of INDX, and other toolchangers I’m sure are in the pipeline. I’m going to be installing an INDX in my heavily modded Ender 5 Plus, and if I ever decide to sell it, or retire it, I know I’ll probably be able to carry it over to another printer.