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Anyone have experience with Palette+ ?

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by John Wohlfeil, Nov 14, 2017.

  1. John Wohlfeil

    John Wohlfeil Member

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    I just got the announcement for the Palette+ and its availability for use with Robo R2. Does anyone have any experience with the Palette? or Palette+ ? Or other multi-color options?

    I am new to this and I've had my printer about 1 month (as of November 11, 2017), and I've been making tons of stuff. I have heard about the ability to add a 2nd extruder to the R2 and I was planning to get in on that once it became available. Then today, I saw the announcement from Robo about the Palette+, and now I want THAT !!!
     
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    I think @Toro1966 just ordered one, I am pretty sure @Geof played with the previous generation and was not impressed, but no experience with the Plus.
     
  3. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    I had a pallete for a while (the original) after midwest reprap. If you are designing your own models and can do so in 4 seperate .stl files then its a very neat tool. I used it for a few large prototypes (imagine a transmission cut open with 3 different sets of colored drive trains for teaching) but aside from a couple prototypes I did I had no use for just 4 PLA colors. Now the Pallete + is multi material including PVA....that I am interested in both for my R2 and my large format machines, but haven't purchased one. Bit steep on the price for my to ROI right now. Hopefully they will come down. I've asked Robo to supply some photos of it on a R2 and pictures of prints up close so I can post them here. If I get them I will post them :D

    edit- there are not alot of multicolor free files out there, thats why there is the statement of if you are designing your own and can do 4 seperate .stls that fit togather :D
     
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  4. adikted2astro

    adikted2astro Active Member

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    I thought about getting one and the idea is quite neat. But, besides the price, what turned me off of it was the fact that my prints would take two to three times longer because as it's printing your part, it has to print this giant block of material right next to it to switch between colors/materials (see image). I'm not sure if this is indicative of multicolor/multimaterial machines either with or without two nozzles, but it's a lot of wasted material. Also, I honestly don't care about multicolored parts. I just want to print with some support material because I've had some issues. Specifically on the first layer. If the z-offset is slightly off and/or the bed isn't completely flat and level all the way around, you get some bad spots on your first layer. Those can be devastating to functional parts. If I had support material, I could print a raft with everything and be able to actually get the raft off. 90% of the time I have printed with rafts (even after dialing in the settings), I simply could not get it off the part............ever.

    palette+ print.PNG
     
  5. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Check out the sigma. Dual extrusion that works. Also ultimaker 3. Those two so far are the best IMO
     
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  6. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Be sure :)

    This is why multicolor is no fun, there are other options that are slightly better, but really dual extruder is the best solution and that brings its own headaches that make multi-color a lot of work for little gain.
     
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    I have heard nothing but good things on the SIgma, but that... is not a direct comparison at all :)
     
  8. adikted2astro

    adikted2astro Active Member

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    Yes, I agree with this but you are talking apples and oranges. These cost a LOT more than a C2 or R2.
     
  9. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    If ya want the orange ya gotta pay for it lol. IMO the idex system is the only way to do dual extrusion. Everything else is beating a dead horse. 4 color is hard. Single nozzle makes it better but adds its own headaches to the mix and consumes a ton of material...and prone to fails
     
  10. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Fwiw the sigma is only about 1k more than the R2 :) the R2 and the Pallete push it into the sigmas price range ;)

    Even with the sigma ....multiextrusion is darn hard
     
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  11. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Multiple independent extruders is the win ;)
     
  12. adikted2astro

    adikted2astro Active Member

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    Well I'm just really glad I didn't actually buy the Palette+. Nothing against the product, I just don't relish the hassle. I did a bit more research on it and apparently if you have a multicolored (or multimaterial) part, you have to slice each color/material separately, then put them into the Palette+ software to combine the, then send the "multipart" to an SD card, then put it in the Palette+. There's too many things there that can go wrong and that's just with the software and basic operation.


    Come ooooooonnnnnn Robo, where's my 2nd extruder kit?
     
  13. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    Hate to be that guy but dual extrusion isnt much different buddy
     
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  14. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    It requires multiple STL files and slicing of same and ... it is a pain.
    It is occasionally worth doing for multi-material, but (IMHO) almost never for multi-color. My airbrushes are sooo much easier to use :)
     
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  15. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    yep. raft and support material are ace though (with S3D, I've never tried any other slicer for dual extrusion) if using PVA. Dual color....blah. Live working mechanics with flexible are neat but even that can be modeled around 80% of the time :D. Really look into dual extrusion, even watch youtubers. You will find very few if any using dual extrusion daily. I do and it sucks every single time :D different kind of animal though :D (me)
     
  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    99.99% if you work at it :)
     
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  17. Toro1966

    Toro1966 Active Member

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    So I just bought, returned, and today rebought the Palette +. I returned the first one because it arrived damaged I believe. I say I believe because it completed the calibration print, but wouldn't do any regular prints and started making wierd noises. Makes sense in a way because when I got it the styrofoam was torn up and the shipping box had a dent in it.

    I have been looking at some multi color options for some time and done a lot of research and they ALL have trade offs. MOST of them use a priming block that wastes material. Dual extrusion from independent extruders is nice but you are likited to the number of colors that you have extrduers.

    EVERY one of them requires multiple stil files for a single object. The good news is that while tedious, you can do it in mesh mixer. Additionally, there are more and more files being loaded to thingiverse, etc all the time.

    I should have the new one late this week and plan on testing it out and writing a review on it. From what I understand, once setup, it is fairly straightforward to use.
     
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  18. John Wohlfeil

    John Wohlfeil Member

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    Lots of good feedback.

    Is the platform required with the new Palette+ ? I thought the point of the Palette was that it’s splicing the colors “in line” and it doesn’t seem like it would need the transition between colors.

    I am brand new to 3D printing and I’m excited for everything new I come across - the pallette+ being the most recent.

    I do end user prints, decor and costume prints and I think the multi-color and multi-material would be great for flat signs, simple 2 color figures, etc. similar to the samples they show in the Mosaic Pallette videos. And I like the idea of printing supports using the water soluble material - because I’ve had several rafts and supports I can’t get off.

    I know these videos make it look really easy, but I’m still interested.

    Sounds like the consensus is, the Palette+ is a little too pricey and the multi color prints might not have enough pay off - especially is searching for pre-designed STL files online.

    I too was excited about the possibility of adding a 2nd extruder to my R2, but it’s really logical and easy to understand that I’d likely face the same challenges with 2 colors that I would with 3 or 4.
     
  19. John Wohlfeil

    John Wohlfeil Member

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    Toro1966 - I can’t wait to hear your thoughts.
     
  20. Geof

    Geof Volunteer Moderator
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    100% this. Multi extrusion on any level is darn hard lol. You can do it but man what a nightmare. You really need to be able to design your own models to use the multi extrusion as there just arnt very many out there that work and even less that are good (in my opinion) for free.

    I'm interested to see the 2nd extruder add on for the R2 but I am not hopeful for the simple fact that 2 extruders on one carriage is outdated (pretty much non functional) headache. Most dual extruder (2 hotend one carriage) machines I see people remove the 2nd nozzle so they can print with one extruder without the 2nd one ruining the print :D .
     

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