For the most part, the objects we design and print are utilitarian in nature. So, we have had limited experience with dual or color-changing filaments. But, recently, as we explored filament colors in a general sense, the idea of exploring how to get the most out of dual color filaments became an object of interest.
Dual Filament & Importance of Quality Winding
When we say "Dual Color Filament" we mean filament with a "Side-by-Side" split. That is two colors fused into a single filament strand.
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| Dual Color (Side-by-Side Split) Filament |
The most important thing to look for when purchasing dual color filament is the quality of the windings. The filament should be wound so that only a single color is seen when viewed from the side of the spool. The Marswork Silk Dual Red/Black in this image demonstrates this principle. Only the red color can be seen from one side of the spool and only the black from the opposite side of the spool. If the colors are mixed as we view the spool from the side, then the results will be very poor and inconsistent.
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| Excellent! Only a Single Color Seen From the Side of the Spool |
Determining Proper Orientation
Since the obvious idea for using a dual color filament is a special effect in our prints where when viewed from one side we see color #1 and viewed from the other side we see color #2, it is imperative that we know exactly how to orient our objects on the print plate to optimize separation.
There are a number of dual color calibration objects that can be downloaded from Makerworld or other sites to help us determine the correct orientation. In our case we found the "Dual Color Test Helper" by ph3Dmaker to be our favorite. We scaled it to 200% to make the angles easier to read.
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| Dual Color Test Helper (Scaled 200%) |
As this object is printed using dual color filament, one side will be one of the colors and the opposite side will be the second color. But, the color split will be performed at different angles for different materials or printers. The angles printed on this test object help us determine the optimal angle for the color split for our particular combination. In our case, that turned out to be a 45 degree angle.
Once we determined this, we printed the object one more time along with 2 panels specifically designed and placed to check our angle's result.
The panels were chamfered to a sharp edge to see how well we were able to align the color change. This animation demonstrates the effect we were hoping to achieve. We only wanted to see a single color on each side of the panel.
Here are the printed results:
View #1 - Front View
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| View #1 - Front View: Panel on Left Has Mixed Colors - Panel on Right a Single Color |
The panel on the right is angled at 45 Degrees and the one on the left is angled at -45 degrees. Alternating Bands of black and red show up on panel on the left side. The left side of the right object is purely red with no color banding. The red, however, is a deeper shade of red because just .2mm below the red surface is a hidden black layer, as expected.
View #2 - Left Side
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| Left View: No Color Split on Left Panel |
Two things stand out from this view. First, both the left and right sides of the -45 degree panel are essentially the same. And, the other observation is that the left side of the right object is uniformly red! No black can be seen.
View #3 - Right side
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| Right View: Right Side of 45 Degree Panel is Purely Black |
The view from the right side reveals that the right side of the 45 degree object is a single color... black.
While not a great image, the top view demonstrates that the tool we used to determine the correct orientation for optimal color separation placement worked exactly as designed.
View #4 - Top
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| Top View of the Test Panel demonstrates the perfect alignment of the color split. |
The color break between red and black runs along the center chamfered edge. It is a clean shift between red and black along this edge. Even a slight angle shift would have caused this color shift to drift away from the center edge.
With this information, we now know the optimal angle to use when placing objects into our slicer.
Dual Filament Object Example
One of the best examples of an object that relies on Dual Filament characteristics is this very cool Color Changing Vortex Fidget by TriVectoran
Exploring Dual Color Filament has been interesting. While I used Marswork Silk dual color filament, I relied on an excellent Amolen article in setting up my printer for optimal results.
Amolen Filament 101: Master the Art of Dual-Color Silk PLA Printing
One of the key settings has to do with making sure the speeds of printing outer walls and inner walls are close or identical to reduce distortion forces.
Now that we have explored the product, we find that we need to explore the applications for dual filament in greater detail. Frankly, I didn't find many samples of objects specifically designed to take advantage of the special characteristics of dual filament. But, now that we know a bit more about it, it seems valuable to explore it in more depth. The first step, of course, is to find the color combinations available.
Markswork currently offers the following in their PLA Silk line:
- Dual Black/Red
- Dual Black/Green
- Dual Red/Gold
- Dual Red/Blue
- Dual Purple/Green
Bambu Labs seems to have at least 7 choices in the Silk Dual category.
Amolen offers a very wide variety of choices. Unfortunately I was unable to compile a list because their web page seems stuck on a single description. I have not used their PLA Silk; but, I have used their Wood filament with excellent results.
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