Someone has developed a solution to a 3D printing problem I don’t think we realize we had.
The development is discussed in a Reddit post describing the “Gantry Mounted Nozzle Primer”. What the heck is that?
It’s all about prime lines. You know, those short (or sometimes long) lines that the FFF 3D printer spits out on the side or front of the build plate when it starts a job. The purpose of these lines is to make sure the material is flowing properly before printing the actual model.
Prime lines are important because sometimes the material in the nozzle has dripped out, leaving it empty during the first seconds of a print job. The prime line ensures it’s full and ready to go.
After the job finishes, you have to remove your 3D prints from the plate, and also the prime line.
That is, if you remember to do so. I often forget because I’m focused on the models I wanted.
In the end, I usually see multiple prime lines piling up on each other on the build plate. Then it’s a do’h! moment and I clean them off.
An Ingenious Innovation
The posted design, by Reddit contributor TheDarkHood, offers an alternate, and effort-free method of doing prime lines.
Instead of printing the line on the plate, the concept here is to “print” the prime line on a rotating wheel mounted on the side of the gantry. As material emerges from the nozzle, it causes the wheel to spin, carrying away what would have become the prime line.
There is then no prime line deposition on the plate to worry about.
Could this become a standard feature?
It probably should, assuming the implementation proves dependable in real use. A good FFF machine should not require operators to clean up prime lines from the bed if there is another place to put them. This is the kind of design that might spread quickly once competitors notice that it works. The cost of the hardware seems pretty modest, although some manufacturers focus on the lowest possible cost to build machines.
This approach is really only for open gantry systems, since many enclosed systems now use filament swapper accessories. Because of that they have developed “poop chutes”, which can be used for color purges, but also for prime line extrusions.
For now this is simply a community modification that can be installed if you so desire. However, if it catches on it just might become a standard feature on many open gantry 3D printers.
Via Reddit and Printables
