What do people want to use tool changes for?

I'm curious, I've read several posts that people want the ability to change tools in future reprap versions. Does this mean that people want to change filament colors or do they want to change from extruding to milling, etc?

... mostly all of them - so you can change 'on the fly' materials and colors, milling with a dremel, laser-cutting or -sintering with a laserheed, or simply draw pictures with fibertips ...

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

I don't think we will really know much until it is a common thing for reprap to use two tool heads.

here are a few outcomes

use 2 different materials one as a support material such as stratasys.

same materials at different temps

use transparent materials, materials of several colors

a mill that eats excess plastics away,


I think the big bang for the buck will be producing transistors/memory/photovoltaic cells and other electrical devices. several small print heads, and one big plastic print head assembly. so i would say piezo tool head in future. IMHO.

here is a possible example of a dual head printer making a compact antenna! ( Google'd it)

[engineering.illinois.edu]

So automatic tool change or manual tool change? Manual would be super easy. Automatic would be incredibly costly.