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I was looking at purchasing the Creality CR-X or another similar dual extruder (note, NOT dual nozzle) printer. I know it was designed to print two colors of the same filament, but is it able to print two different filaments?

I would be printing HIPS with ABS or PVA with PLA, so the two filaments would have very similar characteristics. It's ok if the printer doesn't know there's two different filaments, I can make it work by playing with the slicing settings.

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What you want is a dual extruder, dual nozzle, dual hot-end printer, a printer with two entire print heads.

That model is mostly for color, like a black and white panda, or a green and rainbow lizzard, of the same material.

Your problem is going to be the mixing of both materials in the hot end.

If I were you, I would invest the extra cash into a dual print head printer, so you can print with water-soluble support material, and that soft of stuff, plus if you print black and white pandas, you're going to have pure black, and pure white, with no grey, marbled parts where the two filaments were mixing in the hot end.

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  • $\begingroup$ OP mentions HIPS/ABS and PVA/PLA combo. $\endgroup$
    – Trish
    Dec 9 '20 at 10:56
  • $\begingroup$ I realize my argument isn't really based on materials, but I do think OP is going to be happier with a dual head machine, rather than a "dual feeder" machine... I think that machine is manufactured specifically for people who want to print in two colors of the same material, and also kinda confuse people who want a dual head machine into getting it, thinking they're getting a deal... OP might have a specific project in mind right now, but I think a dual head extruder might future-proof his investment, and make him a happier person on a long-term... I'm not sure about price points, though... $\endgroup$
    – poorandunlucky
    Dec 10 '20 at 4:56
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Yes and No

Yes, if you have two full hotends, you can easily print with two filament types.

Yes, if you have one hotend and both filaments melt at a very similar temperature or are the same polymer, then you can use a Prusa MMU style or splicing machine.

No, if you have only one hotend and the two materials are very dissimilar in their print temperatures (PLA with 200 °C and ABS with 235 °C), then you can't use a MMU/splicing style printing. This does preclude PLA and PVA from the same nozzle: PVA needs about 230 °C according to my data.

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  • $\begingroup$ PLA can be printed at 235, FWIW. I think the bigger problem is different viscosities and other properties leaving the remnants of the previous material in the nozzle rather than all coming out first on purge. I have that problem a lot switching between PLA and PETG. $\endgroup$
    – R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
    Jan 8 at 15:13
  • $\begingroup$ @R..GitHubSTOPHELPINGICE at the cost of print quality, yes, you could print PLA at almost "cooking" temperature. $\endgroup$
    – Trish
    Jan 8 at 19:16

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