two printers one computer

Looking to hook up a second Taz 6 so when large prints are running we can run smaller parts on a second machine. What needs to be considered when hooking up two printers to one computer? Is it as simple as opening Cura in two windows and operating them separately or are there other things to consider?

Thanks for the help.

If you want to avoid that whole boondoggle and save on electricity costs, consider making a astrobox or octoprint box for each printer that you can connect to wirelessly and can run independent of the computer. The rasperry pi’s run at something like 5W’s vs the 100W+ of a standard printer…

I would avoid printing using the USB interface at all. Save the .GCD file on the included SD card and print from that. In the end it’s way less hassle and avoids several failure modes. I have never had a print fail while using an SD card as the source. I have had a few fail when using a laptop, mostly due to communication glitches, windows updating, or any other random cause that I was never able to figure out.

The only thing i use the usb interface for now is updating firmware.

Using this method, you could conceivably print on a unlimited number of printers from just one computer. I’m also pretty sure this is how Lulzbot prints all the parts for their production parts.

Lulzbot has said they use Astroprint in the past. I think they were using Beaglebone Black boards for a while. I don’t know if that has changed.

I run Octoprint on six printers. It is very reliable and gives you options far beyond sneakernetting sd cards to the printers. Don’t hesitate to try it if it is something you are interested in.