YOU CAN BUILD A PRINTER WITH SIX TOOLHEADS THAT WASTES NOTHING
A Voron upgrade that swaps six colours in under five seconds each, with no purge tower and no wasted plastic.
by Rich Nelson
WorkshopOpen-hardware
Built with3D printing
- difficulty
- ●●●●●
- time
- several weekends
- license
- GPL-3.0
- repo
- repo ACTIVE336 stars
●●●●● · several weekends · GPL-3.0 · 336 stars · repo ACTIVE
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
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COMPAREE VERDICT
This is not a printer build — it is an upgrade path for someone who already owns a working Voron 2.4 and wants multicolour printing without a purge tower. The engineering is clean: each toolhead hangs in a printed dock on two screw heads, tap-changer style, the shuttle picks and parks heads in about 4.8 seconds after the creator's tuning, a silicone brush wipes the nozzle on every dock and undock, and a Sexball probe calibrates XYZ offsets for all six heads automatically. The roughly 691-dollar figure is Rich Nelson's own estimate for the six-toolhead upgrade, including the CAN bridge, CAN distribution board, probe and six complete Dragon Burner toolheads with EBB36 boards; it excludes the base printer. The documentation is good on what to print and buy and documents the macro and printer.cfg tuning, but it assumes you already run StealthChanger on Klipper and will not teach you Klipper or CAN from scratch. For someone already running a Voron and tired of binning purge towers, this is one of the cleanest open-source paths to low-waste multicolour.
IN THE REPO
GOOD TO KNOW
- —Full CAD for the six-toolhead docks, printed parts, and mounting hardware is in the repository.
- —BOM and cost guide are present with sources and links. The toolheads are Dragon Burner with EBB36 CAN toolboards, so some familiarity with the StealthChanger/CAN ecosystem helps.
- —No custom firmware — this is a mechanical and wiring upgrade to a working Voron running Klipper with existing StealthChanger support.
- —Assembly documentation is thorough for the docks and toolhead preparation, less so for first-time Voron builders (the project assumes you already have a running Voron 2.4 with StealthChanger).
- —Licence is GPL-3.0, which permits commercial use but requires derivative work to remain open and under the same licence.
- —The repository has both dock plate options: a printed honeycomb plate (STL) and laser-cut DXF files for 10 mm acrylic.
Parts to buy
6 itemsFrom our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.
Can I build this?
Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.
Videos
I Built a Custom 6-Toolhead Multi-Material Printer (Voron StealthChanger)
Primary build video showing the six-head dock system in operation, toolhead swaps, and multicolour prints with no purge tower
More builds like this
All projectsGallery
Start here
Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.
- 1.Confirm your Voron is running Klipper with CAN toolhead support(This project assumes a working Voron 2.4 running Klipper — if you have never set up a CAN toolhead or StealthChanger, do that first on a single toolhead before attempting six)
- 2.Read the full BOM and verify you can source the CAN boards and toolhead PCBs (Some components (especially the CAN boards and magnetic couplers) have lead times or require specific suppliers — order early)
- 3.Print the six docks and carriage shuttle from the STLs in the repository (Expect about a kilogram of ABS or ASA for the six docks and toolhead parts; the docks use the current honeycomb design, and DXF files for the older acrylic plate are still included.)
- 4.Assemble and wire one toolhead first, then test pick-and-park on a single dock(Do not wire all six at once — prove the mechanical alignment and Klipper macros work with one toolhead before scaling up)
Resources
Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.
KNOWN ISSUES
- The 691-dollar figure assumes you already own a working Voron 2.4. Starting from zero, the creator's cheapest 300 mm kit reference is about 839 dollars, so budget roughly 1,500 dollars or more in total.
- Take care mounting the docks: they must line up with the shuttle path the macros expect, and the creator tuned the dock path (params_sc_path) and clearances in the toolchange-tuning README — copy those settings deliberately rather than mixing them with defaults.
- Each toolhead has its own nozzle offset. The build includes a Sexball probe that measures XYZ offsets for all six heads automatically, so re-run it after nozzle changes or any toolhead work.
- The repository documents its tuned printer.cfg and StealthChanger macro changes, but it assumes you already run StealthChanger on Klipper. It does not teach the base setup from scratch.
- Slicer support for zero-purge toolchangers is still patchy: PrusaSlicer and SuperSlicer have some support, but you will likely need to hand-tune start/end G-code and wipe sequences to avoid ooze between swaps.
- The dock plate can be printed (honeycomb) or laser-cut from acrylic. The bracket was designed for 10 mm acrylic measuring 9.5 mm, so if your sheet differs, adjust the bracket.
Can I build this with fewer than six toolheads?
Yes — the system scales down to two, three, or four heads by simply not printing or wiring the extra docks. The carriage shuttle and Klipper macros are the same regardless of toolhead count.
Does this work on a Voron 0 or V1?
The custom parts were designed for the creator's 300 mm Voron 2.4 with StealthChanger. Other printers that StealthChanger supports may work with adaptation, but the dock spacing, umbilical and spool holder are sized for this build; a Voron 0 or V1 would need a redesign.
What happens if a toolhead fails to park correctly?
The repository does not document failure handling; it relies on the StealthChanger macros. The creator reports zero toolchange failures during printing with this screw-hook dock, but check the StealthChanger documentation for what your configuration does if a pick or park fails.
How much print time does zero-purge actually save?
The project does not publish a figure — it depends on the model and number of colour changes. What it documents is a toolchange time of about 4.8 seconds after tuning, with no purge tower; savings are largest on prints with many colour changes.
Community builds
No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.
Discussion1
FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM
Six toolheads for roughly 691 dollars in upgrades on top of a Voron 2.4 — with automatic nozzle offset calibration. What multicolour part would you print first?
Rich Nelson
Rich Nelson built this six-toolhead Voron 2.4 around the StealthChanger system and the Tapchanger docking mechanism, prioritising performance, maintainability, auto-calibration and looks. He published all his custom parts, a BOM, a detailed cost guide and his toolchange tuning.
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DISCLAIMER
- Comparee is not the author of the projects featured here. All rights to each project belong to its creator — every page links to the original source, and we never host creators’ files.
- Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
- Building and operating any project is at your own responsibility. Protective equipment, safe workshop practice and compliance with local regulations are the builder’s responsibility.
CompareeTEAM1mo agoedited
Practical notes from our verification: the author's cost guide puts the six-toolhead upgrade at roughly 691 dollars, and that figure already includes the CAN bridge, the CAN distribution board, the Sexball probe and six complete Dragon Burner toolheads with EBB36 boards — it excludes only the base printer, which he prices at about 839 dollars for a 300 mm Voron 2.4 kit as a reference point. The repository has STL and STEP files for every custom part, a BOM, and the dock in a printed honeycomb version, with DXF plates for one to six tools still included for an acrylic dock. Calibration is less painful than you might fear: the nozzle brush mount and Sexball probe handle automatic XYZ offset calibration across all six heads. The part that still needs Klipper experience is toolchange tuning — the toolchange-tuning README documents the printer.cfg and macro changes, and you should be comfortable editing them. Correction (4 October 2026): we re-checked this page line by line against the project's own repository, documentation and videos, and fixed errors in earlier versions.