You can’t taste this rainbow, but it sure looks great when it’s blended together to make truly multi-colored 3D prints. That’s exactly what the ORD Solutions new RoVa4D 3D printer is able to accomplish using five different (CMYK+W) colored filaments.
This is ORD’s third successful Kickstarter-backed 3D printer with the first (MH3000) debuting in 2013 and followed by the popular RoVa3D in 2014, making them a trusted manufacturer among the maker and DIY communities. To their testament, ORD successfully funded the RoVa4D printer in less than six hours, garnering $216K, way beyond their $25K goal.
ORD designed their new printer to blend colors seamlessly using everyone’s most beloved color model CMYK (cyan, yellow, magenta, black, plus white) for the wides color combination possible. On top of this, you can use a mix of different PLA-based filaments to form hard or soft sections of the printed model. The metal spools of filament are attached to the sides of the aluminum frame and feed into a hot end where they are blended (or mixed) together before being extruded–similar to like an inkjet printer.
The RoVa4D is packed with features that include a build volume of 12 X 12 X 12-inches(!), automatic bed leveling, liquid cooling and a print resolution of 3.75um for the X/Y-axis and 10um on the Z. Additional features include auto-nozzle height control, electronic offset control, auto cooling fan touch screen and Wi-Fi.
The printer construction is impressive, sporting a solid aluminum reinforced frame with all non-metal parts fabricated using injection molding rather than 3D printing, adding to the printer’s solid construction. According to ORD, the software interface is so simple that “even a child can do it.” It involves first choosing a model (either from an ORD library or your own), then painting said model using ORD’s RoVaSlice Custom Printing Design Software and then printing it out–seems easy enough.
While ORD’s Rova4D Kickstarter campaign is over, you can still pre-order it from their website for $3,796 USD, which nets you the printer, 5 CMYK+W filament spools, 1 PVA and RoVa-Flex spools as well as a GeckoTek Quick Change bed and two Quick Change plates for printing with different filaments. Retail price after pre-orders is estimated to be at least $4650 USD, printer only with all additions listed above being sold separately.
