I just received my WhamBam Mutant tool swapping system. I got the kit with three mobile plates, so I can experiments with three different hotends (or more general, tools).
I think I’ll stick with hotends for now. I’m currently running an e3d v6 with BlTouch in the standard GridBot 2.0 Bowden setup.
I’m planning on just replacing the current groove/fan/bltouch mount system with the Mutant Fixed plate. After that, I want to use the great “Hero Me Mutant” models
(https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4718158) to print the accessory mounts for the mobile plate starting with replicating the existing e3d setup but switching out the cooling with a 5015 blower (either single or dual).
One this is (hopefully) working, I can think about the other two mobile plates.
I do want to try the e3d Revo once it comes out later this year.
Any other recommendations for interesting (bowden style) hotends?
Also, i need to figure out a good solution of swapping the firmware offsets when switching the hotends.
I’ve been having trouble printing the fan ducts in decent quality in PETG. Probably just my settings. Haven’t printed PETG much. I think I’m going to abandon PETG for now and instead of doing everything in Carbon PLA I’m going to go the SLA route and use a tough ABS-like resin. The normal resin is too brittle for my taste. I just got an order of the resin delivered today and I hope to make progress over the weekend.
So far my printed pieces are mostly Ziro CF PLA. Only for the printhead I used SLA before and liked the result except for the brittleness of the material. It’s strong, but cracks easily. So I’m giving the ABS-like resin a try and see how it turns out. If I don’t like it, I’m going to use the CF PLA.
I’ve made a little bit of progress. The hotend assembly is almost complete. I’ll share pictures when it’s done. I’ve also installed the fixed plate that holds the interface to the printer that the mobile plates that carry the hotend assembly will connect to.
For now, I’ll just share a photo of the x gantry with the fixed plate.
I’ve reprinted the stock Gridbot x mount base and then cut an interface plate out of acrylic that then holds the Mutant fixed plate. The whole assembly seems quite sturdy even if it doesn’t look like it in the picture.
As usual, I had to set this aside for a while before finishing everything, but I finally finished wiring the Mutant fixed plate.
Need to adjust for the new offsets and then I can give it a try.
I still have two spare mobile plates, so I hope to get another hotend installed some time soon.
I lost about 15mm in x-direction due to the size of the fixed plate. I don’t think there’s too much that can be done about that one.
I lost about 35 to 40mm in y direction, which is due to my bulky fan assembly. I’m fairly sure that this could be reduced to almost zero with a different design of the hotend and fan mount.
I personally don’t care about that reduction in build volume, but I can see that this might not be for everyone.
I ordered one of the new e3d Revo hotends to use on another mobile plate.
I like the idea of tool-free swappable nozzles at room temperature. It’s backordered and ships from the UK, so it’ll be a while until I get it.
Still waiting for the e3d Revo, but I did equip another mobile plate in the meantime with an e3d volcano for larger diameter nozzles.
I still have to get used to printing with larger diameter nozzles (I do get some gaps between shell and infill) - but changing the hotends and switching configurations is pretty easy.
In this photo, the tool head is equipped with an e3d v6 and on the storage mount you can see the volcano with 0.8mm nozzle.
The e3d Revo Micro is here and I really do like the simple and functional design. Cold nozzle/throat switches work perfectly. I’m about to start my first print.
