What should I buy?

[dchauran]

I've got a Max V2 with the stock hot end, and I'm ready to upgrade, as I want to start printing nylon and other materials. I'm NOT ready to get into dual extrusion right now, but I do want to do so later.

If I never planned to get into dual extrusion, I would simply buy an E3D v6 and be done with it, however since I do, should I just go for the chimera, or is it feasible to add a second v6 later? The problem is that E3Ds site says I have to go water cooled with the chimera, which means I'm looking at a $200+ upgrade, which is out of my budget right now.

[Xenocrates]

The Kraken is water cooled. The Chimera (And Cyclops) are not. However, it is feasible to add a second V6 later. It will not print as nicely as a Cyclops, but it will work. There are mounts and effectors designed for it already.

[dchauran]

My bad - I was misreading the chart.

So, is there a chimera mount that puts the bulk of the thing above the effector plate, or is the hole too small on the stock plate?

Edit: I ask because the only mount I could find is an undermount on thingiverse, and it's for the max not the V2.

[IMBoring25]

I've been struggling even trying to get one v6 above the stock effector. You'd definitely have to make a custom effector to have room for two without hanging them under the effector.

[Xenocrates]

I know that Travelphotog has (his site is 713maker) cyclops and Chimera mounts for above the effector (as test pieces. He brought them to MRRF, but hasn't released them yet) that you may be able to get a hold of and beta test. I also believe that Mike should have a mount that will work. Also, the Max and Max V2 effectors are compatible, so long as they aren't different joints (Ball versus U no go, metal versus acetal is fine)

[dchauran]

Thanks for the tip. I emailed him off of the 713Maker site.

Not sure who "Mike" is, I'm new here

This is the printable mount I found for a V1, and it does look like it's for a different joint style, though it's an undermount so I'm still not sure if that's really an issue?

[mhackney]

I wouldn't sweat under vs over mount. How many 18" tall things have you printed? My advice is to take the simple route. If no over effector mounts exist today, then use an undermount and get printing. It is trivial to reprint and install a new mount later once you have all the electronics, etc sorted out. And you may find you never need to squeak out that extra couple of inches.

[Nylocke]

Mike is Mhackeny. ^

Theres also a design that Jfettig made that puts the cold end above the effector, but it requires the TrickLaser CF arms (its a wider stance version of the regular effector) http://repables.com/r/483/

[dchauran]

Thanks Mike - I'm actually concerned about the over/under for a couple of reasons. The first, as you mentioned, is height. The second is more to do with the angular momentum. Mabey I'm not visualizing the physics correctly in my head, but it seems like having the mass lower (further out) on the the platform, vs more centered in the platform would cause a bit more ringing/jerking. Am I not thinking correctly here?

Thanks,
Derek

[mhackney]

You are over thinking it Derek! It is not a problem at all. I run a 4 headed Kraken suspended beneath my Rostock and I challenge anyone to match the quality of prints I get. As the saying goes, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is." Theory might favor a center of mass argument but practice demonstrates that fantastic prints are achievable regardless.

It really doesn't get any more massive than this Kraken beast with water cooling:

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s10/v1 ... 5794-2.jpg[/img]

and you can't really print parts that are more precise and aesthetically pleasing than this:

[img]http://mhackney.zenfolio.com/img/s10/v1 ... 8062-2.jpg[/img]