Full color 3D printing

Hello, reviewing information on internet regarding 3D printing in full color, I get the idea of ​​combining the classic plastic extrusion system with a conventional inkjet printer. The idea is to mount in the X axis where moves the extruder a color inkjet print head (but in the other hand). The idea is to print first a layer of plastic and then "paint" those layer with the inkjet print head. By repeating the process layer by layer it is possible to have a printed plastic object in full color . The problem is how to coordinate the two processes on the same machine with a software or a firmware to alternate both processes. I leave the debate to discussion. Scarr002 Greetings from Chile.

I think the bigger problem is getting plastic that will absorb the ink

Hello, for clarify my proposal for a full color 3d printer, see the attached file.

Hello DaGameFace, I think is not a problem because the plastic will be very hot and the ink will dry fast. As reference I have painted some PLA printed toys for my sons with acrylic pens (water base) and work fantastic.

Maybe try a Sharpie based system?

[www.desiquintans.com]

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Hello gmh39, I had reviewed the link you show and the problem with that solution is the dilution of the color whith the fused plastic (external painted with internal plastic not painted or inked). With my proposal the ink is in the surface of the plastic, so the ink don't dilute.

This idea has been discussed before.

One issue is that inkjet inks are water-based, so the ink won't penetrate/mix into the plastic. I did a little research a while ago, and acetone-based inks are available, which would probably be good for ABS prints.

Secondly, if there is a layer of (water-based) dried ink, the question is also how well the next layer of plastic will connect to the plastic layer underneath it.

But please don't be deterred... try out your idea and let us know how well it works. We may all be pleasantly surprised.

It’s been done better with Sharpies, check it out! Sharpies to paint 3D objects

Hello, I find a japanese web site that sell a kit with an Epson inkjet printer attached outside the 3D printer. See the following link inkjet 3d printer

I think that $2500 is a bit expensive for what it does. And I'm really not much interested in something that prints on the surface after it has finished building an object. That pretty much limits you to making objects that are relatively flat. Th example video of "color layer" printing is also less than impressive. The result looks blurry and is only 2.5D. Interesting that they don't print over the top of the ink... that suggests to me that that wouldn't work well. I guess all this means that the process hasn't been figured out yet.

What would impress me would be if they did a 3D scan of a rose (or some other flower, or a doll's head, or a piece of fruit, or a wooden toy), and printed it in full colour 3D, and it looked reasonably similar to the original. I think we're about as far from this now as the Epson MX-80 dot matrix printer of the 1980s was from today's colour laser printers.

"What would impress me would be if they did a 3D scan of a rose (or some other flower, or a doll's head, or a piece of fruit, or a wooden toy), and printed it in full colour 3D, and it looked reasonably similar to the original. I think we're about as far from this now as the Epson MX-80 dot matrix printer of the 1980s was from today's colour laser printers."

only with FDM printers

Powder based printers where the power is glued and can be coloured are much better suited to this sort of idea, and funny enough use it.

Also these printers that basically takes a4 pages and cut each page as layers use this method, printing the colour on each page as each page is cut and glued

Reviewing all the comments in this post I attached a new file with adjustments to the proposal for a full color 3d printer with plastic filament. The new idea is to add a binder material after the ink layer to ensure a good adderence between layers of extruded plastic. 3dSystems use a similar concept with plastic dust, a binder material and inkjet printing. I will start to build this idea, when I have some advance I going to share the results.

I notice in your diagram that you plan to only colour the edges of the piece. I assume that's because you don't want to compromise the adhesion between layers.

But what about the outer top surface? That should be fully coloured, since (a) it will be visible, and (b) it won't have anything printed on top of it. I guess colour should be applied orthogonally to all outside surfaces.

Incidentally, how do you plan to colour the bottom surface (i.e. the part adhering to the print bed) of the object?

Your first comment is correct that mean is necessary to paint the final surface. In other hand, with this method is not posible to paint the bottom of first layer, because is adhered to the heatbed. I'm reviewing if is possible to control the filament extruder and the inkjet head with gcode but I beleave is harder than I thought. if anyone has any suggestions please share it

Hello to everyone. The company XYZPrinting has developed a full color 3d printer that use exactly the conceptual model that I show here more than one year ago. You can see the printer in the following link.

Davinci Color 3d Printer

Ink jet head and plastic extruder in the same carriage and a new kind of PLA that absorb the ink.

Regards,

Also in the following link you can see a video of the machine working.

DaVinci color 3d printer video

$3000 for the da Vinci Color is too expensive for me. Especially when you're also locked into buying filament from them at US$35 for (I think) 600g.

I'll wait for the Chinese clones next year.