MultiMaterial 3D printing

[WrathfulMantis]

I brought an IDEX 3d printer early this year and finally got the extruders working together reliably, I heard that PETG with PLA supports can create amazing quality prints even with tricky geometry and decided to give it a go.
The model is fairly simple (a segment in a larger print of a pickaxe from DRG) but it clearly shows the potential this method has

First photo is the model as it was on the bed, you can see the clean top layer and which faces are supported by PLA supports

Second is the under-side of the model, usually you would expect a face supported like that to be rough and probably need sanding but this face is almost if not cleaner than the top layer! The only blemishes I can see are a few tiny specks of black pla but they're barely noticable

I still need to test this method a bit with some more complicated geometry but mixing the two kinds of plastic could be amazingly helpful when printing things that need to fit tightly together, for example if you were trying to replace something that was injection molded.
Very exciting!!

[WrathfulMantis]

Also this has the added benifit of making most of the waste from my PETG prints PLA which is biodegradable (under the correct conditions) and easy to recycle which means less plastic waste!