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?
The industrial ones may be tough, but the one in the video looks janky and the abundance of printed parts does not inspire confidence in its longevity. Also, it is an addon to an MMU, making the whole multi color set up closer to $500, and limited to bowden, which precludes flexibles. Once a tool has been swapped it must be heated to the proper temp for the filament.
I’m not intimately knowledgeable with subtractive CNC, but I own and have used a lot a hand router, so I’m familiar with the business end of the things. Reliability is not going to be the same with a dry tool or toolhead, than with an oozy nozzle.
The system is for bedslingers only, which are inferior to cartesian or CoreXY cube printers.
The INDX is way more capable, simpler (thus likely more reliable) made by Bondtech, which has a proven reliability and performance record.
The only scenario where I see this being equal or superior to a toolhead changer is, well, none.
I did say that for as reliable as I know turrets to be, (decades of run time 10 to 24 hours a day), this is not the proper application for one. Like you, I don’t find the plastic parts to be very comforting.
The idea, despite being misguided, is an attempt to keep those perfectly good older bed slingers out of landfills by giving them extra capabilities to extend their life cycles.
Corexy IS faster and if you are a hobbyist buying your first or perhaps second printer I would recommend one and they are an excellent choice. But Bambu, Prusa, Soval, and Crealty still sell bed slingers for a reason.