There's a key difference between these two techniques for multi-material printing that makes one superior to the other, especially for analytical hardware in the lab. Printers that change filament and use only a single nozzle like those by Bambu Labs with their AMS system or Prusa with their [MMU](https://www.prusa3d.com/category/original-prusa-mmu3/) are great additions, and leagues ahead of printers with no multi-material capability. But they waste time and material purging the nozzle at every layer when the material is changed. Additionally, if you are using a less chemically resistant material like [[ASA]] to support or reinforce a chemically resistant one like [[Polypropylene]] you can end up with trace contamination in the [[Polypropylene]] part that will leech out on first contact with a solvent. ![[Pasted image 20250204201954.png]] Multi extruder printers like the [Prusa XL](https://www.prusa3d.com/en/product/original-prusa-xl-semi-assembled-5-toolhead-3d-printer/) or Qidi i-Fast solve this issue with completely separate hot-ends. The Prusa XL is the best example of this and is perfect for any setup where small to medium production volumes are required.