The Ultimaker is down due to a broken thermistor, so we’re taking this opportunity to upgrade it to a dual extruder setup for multi-material prints. The parts have been ordered, and it should be ready to go in about a month. Stay tuned for updates.
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Ive seen filament that is used for support structures. Is that the idea behind the multi material prints or are there other uses for it?
Yeah, better support material, different nozzle sizes for detail and infill, multi-color prints.
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So, obviously it’s taking longer than I had originally anticipated when I started this thread (things always seem to work out that way) but I’ve got the new hotend (mostly) attached and (partially) assembled. I had to design a new mount (the black part in the picture) because the one I downloaded and printed was for a knockoff Ultimaker. 
Once the hotend is mounted and assembled I need to attach the new extruder. I could mount it in the existing holes on the back of the machine, but I’m thinking I’ll move both of the extruders and spool holders to the sides of the machine so people don’t have to reach around back to get to them. Maybe I’ll move the power switch to the front as well.
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Here’s what I’m going with on the extruder mounts. One on each side. Should make it way easier to change filament. Next up are the spool holders.
Thumb for scale (ate the banana, sorry).
Got the spoolholders designed and printed, drilled all the mounting holes, and added a power switch to the front. I made a few changes to the hotend mount and started printing it. I also ordered a couple parts that I didn’t realize I needed before.
Next up: design and print a new mount for the layer cooling fans.
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I totally love that you are taking the time to document this. I love following some good old making 
Got everything hooked up well enough to do a few test prints. In typical fashion, all of the wires were a few centimeters too short to reach the plugs, but my trusty wire stretcher made short work of that. After a few false starts with incorrectly entered extruder offsets, I was able to print a somewhat acceptable 2 color frog.
One issue with multi-extruder printing is that any nozzle that isn’t currently being used likes to ooze filament while it waits its turn. You can see the effects of that very clearly on the frog. I spent some time dialing in the temperature and retraction settings to reduce the oozing issue. I had some pretty decent results on some dice, but there is definitely still room to tweak the settings for cleaner prints.
I’m still working on the layer cooling fan. The enclosure makes it tricky to fit in a decent cooling fan without reducing the print area. I think I’m pretty close, though.
Other than the cooling fan, the main thing left to do is secure the wires in an orderly fashion and keep dialing in the settings.
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The Ultimaker is nearly ready for general use. All that’s left is to put some covers back on and update the firmware to fix a temperature display issue. The most recent prints are a significant improvement over the initial tests. I’ll try to put together instructions and a class in the near future.
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