Anyone who has run a multicolor print on a filament-swapping desktop machine knows the pile of purge "poop" next to the finished part. That pile can outweigh the model itself. On August 31, Fabbaloo covered a new Creality machine, the SPARKX i8, that attacks the problem from an unusual angle: it routes four filament channels all the way down to the nozzle so there is almost nothing left to purge. Here is what Creality has published, what an independent outlet made of it, and what it means whether you print at home or buy parts from a shop like ours.
What Creality actually announced
According to Creality's own SPARKX i8 landing page, the printer is an open-frame bedslinger with a 260 x 260 x 255 mm build volume, a 300 C hotend, a 100 C heated bed, a top speed of 500 mm/s, and 10,000 mm/s² acceleration. The headline feature is a system Creality calls QuarTeks: an integrated four-channel single toolhead where the shared filament path is listed as under 1 mm. Creality says filament switching happens in under one second and claims "500%+" faster multicolor printing, with a footnote that the figure is based on a test involving 3,000 color changes.
The page also lists 81-point automatic leveling, 13 sensors inside the printhead that watch all four channels for runout and slipping, a 720p AI camera for spaghetti detection, and a hotend that releases in about five seconds. Creality says the machine launches on Indiegogo this September. No price has been published as of this writing.
Fabbaloo's Kerry Stevenson explained the physics simply. In a typical filament swapper there is a stretch of material sitting below the cutter, which Creality's comparison diagram lists as "at least 35 mm" on other systems, and all of it has to be pushed out before the next color prints clean. Shrinking that zone to about a millimeter means a much smaller purge. Stevenson also noted that Creality's own charts showed waste reductions in the 40 to 60 percent range against "Others," so this is a big reduction rather than a complete elimination, even though the marketing uses a "0 g waste" figure footnoted to one specific model.
My multicolor prints waste more filament than they use. Is there a fix, or is that just how it works?
Purge waste comes from the length of filament that must be flushed out of the hotend at every color change, so any fix has to shorten that path, reuse the purge, or avoid the swap entirely. Slicers already offer two partial fixes: printing the purge into the model's infill instead of a tower, and cutting the number of color changes per layer by grouping colors. Creality's page says the i8 can redirect purge into infill on "select models" for tower-free printing, which is the same idea taken further. Hardware fixes fall into three families: tool changers and IDEX machines give each color its own nozzle, multi-nozzle heads park several hotends on the carriage, and now QuarTeks runs four channels into one nozzle. Creality's argument for the last approach is that a single nozzle needs no offset calibration between heads.
Why an engineering buyer should care about a hobby printer
You will probably never spec a bedslinger for production parts, and neither do we. But the economics matter to anyone paying for printed parts. Creality's yearly test scenario claims roughly 438 kg less filament and about $1,500 saved across 3,000 color changes, with a "results may vary" caveat. Whether or not those numbers hold, purge waste is a real line item in any multi-material job. When we quote a stiff body with a flexible TPU bumper, the purge volume shows up as material cost and machine time. Technology that shrinks purge on the desktop eventually shows up in the industrial toolheads we buy.
The other buyer-relevant detail is the sensor package. Thirteen sensors plus a camera that flags empty printing used to be industrial-only monitoring. More of it at the low end pushes expectations up everywhere, including at shops that build parts to order. To see how we handle that on real jobs, our Build and Ship page walks through the way we run a part from file to your door.
I need a discontinued plastic part in two colors or two materials. Can someone actually print that as one piece?
Yes, a multi-material part can be printed as a single piece on an independent dual extruder machine or a multi-channel toolhead, as long as the two materials bond and the geometry lets one head lay down each region cleanly. That is exactly the kind of job we run in Rockville. We start by 3D scanning the original part, rebuild it in CAD, decide which regions need which material, and then print it on a machine whose purge and calibration routine is already dialed in. Color-only jobs are simpler than material-mixing jobs; a PLA body in two colors is easy, while a rigid nylon frame with a soft grip needs a material pair that actually welds together. If you are not sure which case you have, send a photo of the original to info@dcadditivepros.com and we will tell you what is realistic before you spend anything.
What we will be watching
Three things will decide whether QuarTeks is a real step or a clever demo: jam behavior in a nozzle with four internal channels, independent purge numbers on ordinary models rather than showcase prints, and the price when the Indiegogo campaign opens. If you are a filament, hotend, or dryer brand with hardware you would like us to put through real production jobs, we do hands-on evaluations at the shop; reach out at info@dcadditivepros.com.
Frequently asked questions
How much filament does my multicolor 3D print waste on purge?
It depends on the number of color changes and the length of the shared filament path. Creality's comparison lists "at least 35 mm" of purge length on conventional swappers per change, and its showcase prints list purge-inclusive totals that are two to three times the filament of the i8 for the same model.
Can I 3D print a part in two materials at the same time?
Yes, on an independent dual extruder or multi-channel printer, as long as the two materials bond to each other. We print rigid plus flexible combinations to order with no minimum quantity.
Is the Creality SPARKX i8 available to buy right now?
No. As of September 2, 2026 Creality's page says it launches on Indiegogo in September and is collecting emails for a price reveal.
I only need one multicolor part. Will a shop print it without a minimum order?
Yes. One part or one hundred, we quote each job on its own. Email info@dcadditivepros.com with your file or a photo of the original.
Sources: Creality SPARKX i8 landing page (crowdfundingfdm.creality.com, accessed September 2, 2026); Fabbaloo, "Creality Reveals SPARKX i8 With Four-Filament QuarTeks Extrusion System," August 31, 2026.