$109.99
In stock, ready to ship.
24v versions available upon request, simply make your request in the order notes. Please confirm 24v version upon arrival.
Chimera is a neat and simple way in which to add conventional dual extrusion to your machine in a simple, air-cooled package. Nozzles can be individually adjusted in height for an easy setup experience. Each nozzle is individually temperature controllable for ultimate material versatility. Chimera inherits the best from its cousins, v6 and Kraken, combining them into a single, reliable, yet highly capable HotEnd with a tiny 30x28mm footprint and easy mounting.
Cyclops introduces a new way of printing multiple materials not yet seen before in commercially available HotEnds. By taking 2 input materials and printing them alternately from a single nozzle Cyclops is able to eliminate ooze problems that are inherent in most conventional dual extrusion systems. This new approach has been working excellently for us in testing at E3D, but we are releasing it now as an experimental product as we are still figuring out the best techniques for using this new HotEnd type.
The Legends pack gives you the capability of both Cyclops and Chimera, by including both the experimental Cyclops extrusion system parts as well as the stable Chimera nozzle components. This will allow you to build and swap between each system quickly and easily. We've even included the additional thermistors and heater cartridges so you won't have to re-fit thermistors in order to change over. Probably the most versatile dual extrusion setup money can buy!
Add Multi-Extrusion capability to your machine with the easiest, most versatile, and highest performance HotEnds in the industry. E3D has a range of modular systems which give you the ability to create printers that can print a wide range of colors and materials in a single object, in one print.
All our multiple extrusion systems share some core design principles:
E3D-v6 |
Chimera |
Cyclops |
Kraken |
||
Fundamentals |
|||||
| Inputs | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Outputs | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
| Switching | No | No | Yes | No | |
| Mixing | No | No | No | No | |
Filament |
|||||
| Filament | 1.75mm/3mm | 1.75mm | 1.75mm | 1.75mm | |
| Indv. Temps. | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
Compatability |
|||||
| V6 Nozzles | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| Volcano | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
Cooling |
|||||
| Air | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| Water | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Coming Soon | Yes | |
Dual Extrusion brings the abilities of your printer to a whole new level; providing a way to print items in multiple colors, multiple materials, support materials, all giving you unprecedented freedom in what you can print. Multiple color prints will be the envy of your friends and allow you to convey more visual information in prototypes. Multi-material prints allow you to combine distinctly different material properties in a single print, imagine rigid Carbon-Fibre-PLA wheel hubs with printed in place NinjaFlex tires or a Nylon bushing. Support materials allow you to ignore the age-old problems of overhangs or picking off tedious-same material supports by using soluble support materials, or materials that break away cleanly from your prints. If you’re a machine manufacturer looking to differentiate your machine in a crowded marketplace then Chimera and Cyclops give you an easy way to upgrade to dual-extrusion.
Chimera and Cyclops are close relatives, and also inherit components from the v6 family and Kraken. This means that you can easily change a Chimera into a Cyclops or vice-versa. Chimera is also compatible with the full range of v6 Extra-Nozzles for maximum configurability. This gives you the opportunity to use a larger nozzle for fast support or infill while keeping resolution with a smaller nozzle for perimeters or details.
We’re planning future updates to our ecosystem that will further enhance the capabilities of many of our HotEnds in a modular and configurable way, such as being able to withstand heated build chambers and faster printing speeds.
Cyclops and Chimera bring about an easier way than ever to build dual extrusion into your machine. A single integrated package brings your machine Dual-Extrusion that can be mounted with the use of only 3x M3 Screws. For even easier mounting we have included the ability to mount not only on the top face of the HotEnd, but also on the rear face of the HotEnd. This makes it easy to design mounts for use on almost any machine, including Delta machines, vertical X-carriage machines, and a whole slew of others.
Just like Kraken, Chimera uses sliding heatbreaks which allows the nozzle height to be easily adjusted so they can be set precisely level with respect to one another. This ensures that the nozzles don’t end up knocking into parts of the object being printed, damaging the print, or causing the machine to skip steps.
Most firmware and slicing packages now support dual extrusion out of the box, we’re using Repetier-Host, Cura, and Repetier-Firmware here at E3D with great results. Additionally, many of the mainstream electronics boards also support dual-extruders, we’re using good old RAMPS 1.4, but any dual-extruder capable board should do.
Expectations
Printing with a Switching-HotEnd is an exciting new frontier, although software and electronics setup are fairly simple and we are seeing great results here at E3D we want to be up-front about the status of this product. We are still developing the best techniques, settings, and procedures to get beautiful reliable prints every time. Cyclops takes some extra learning and getting used to and may require a little tinkering and tuning to get awesome prints. If you’re looking for a more conventional system then Chimera may be a better fit for your needs.
Technical Drawings
http://wiki.e3d-online.com/wiki/Cyclops_%26_Chimera_Documentation#Engineering_Drawings
What's in the box:
Chimera/Cyclops Cold Side
1 x Cyclops / Chimera Heatsink
1 x 30x30x10 Fan
2 x Embedded Bowden Couplings for Metal
2 x Threaded Bowden Couplings with Collets Inserted
1 x Bag of Fixings (note: E3D has changed to only use 2 fan screws, not 4)
1 x Sachet of Thermal Paste
1600mm of PTFE Tube 4mm OD, 2mm ID
Cyclops Hot Side:
1 x Cyclops Switching Heater Block
2 x Cyclops Heat Breaks
They can be identified apart from Kraken heat breaks by the small flats milled into the threaded section.
1 x Heater Cartridge
1 x Thermistor Kit
1 x Thermistor Cable
1 x Bag of Fixings (labelled: Cyclops Hot Side)
Chimera Hot Side:
2 x v6 Heater Blocks
2 x v6 Nozzles
2 x Kraken Heat Breaks
2 x Heater Cartridges
2 x Thermistor Kits
2 x Thermistor Cables
1 x Bag of Fixings (labelled: Dual v6 Hot Side Kit)
