Flex3Drive is flexible driveshaft based extruder system with some speed in it

Flex3Drive is innovative extruder system made by Mutley3D from Uk and developed by the CEO Jason Perkes.

Flex3rive print results

Flex3Drive schematics showing the flexible drive shaft and motor 

Flex3Drive is a complete end to end, flexible driveshaft based extruder system offering several key advantages over other systems, including:

• a lighter X carriage 
• faster print and travel speeds 
• reduced retraction distances 
• increased retract speeds 

The extruder motor is mounted remotely from the extruder itself and attached to the frame or x ends of a printer allowing the extruder to move faster with less vibrations. Flex3DriveTM is also fully compatible with Delta type machines.

Technical specifications:

• Weight: 45 grams without hot end
• Envelope: 50 x 45 x 45mm x y z
• Gear Ratio: 40:1
• Gear Type: Nylon IM (QDrive) Worm Wheel gear set
• Hobb diameter: 11 x 8,5mm
• Filament siameter: 3mm or 1,75 no extruder change required
• Tested Filaments: ABS, PLA, Nylon (various), Laywood, NinjaFlex, Laybrick, Acetal - tglasse  and more ...
• Price: £95 + Shipping

Flex3Drive homepage with much more information:

http://mutley3d.com/Flex3Drive/

Here is a RepRap forum about it: http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?1,356635

Here are some videos of Flex3Drive in action:




Here is an overview of the mechanism:




Here is real-time retraction test:

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