Changing nozzles in favor of printing other materials

[colorfabb 3]

I’ve got a question for the ‘makers’ on this forum. Recently we’ve developed a wood filled filament that doesn’t work with 0.4mm nozzles. But we’ve tested it with 0.8mm nozzle and it works like a charm and it looks spectacular!

Now there's two things we can do. We can adjust our formulation so it works with a .4mm nozzle (but likely lose the aesthetic) or we can see if users are willing to adjust their nozzles so they can print with this material.

The real benefit of printing with our current formulation is that the relatively large wood particles give the prints a real authentic look, something we probably won't get from smaller particles.

What do you guys think about changing nozzles to be able to print other materials?

Cheers,

Gijs

Mayan Coaster by Dizingof

low res hi quality vases - Joris

 

[codemaven 0]

Hi Gijs,

Looks really nice. Does it exhibit the same temp / colour relationship as Laywoo-d3?

I can't speak for others, but personally I don't think I would be willing to change nozzles for a single material. It's just too much hassle. I like the idea (with dual extrusion) of having a larger nozzle for doing support and infill quickly and a small one for the skin of the object.... but unless changing the nozzles could be made as easy as changing a drill bit on a drill I'd rather just stick with two 0.4mm nozzles all the time.

Regards,

Troy.

 

[ian 32]

what about this idea... buy 80 euros worth of this new plastic and get a .08 nozzle free !

Ian :-)

 

[SandervG 1,521]

But you still need to swap the Nozzle Ian

I don't think the problem lies with the costs for the Nozzle.

Personally I would like a larger variety of nozzles (+ filaments) and I don't think if I want to make a large beautifull print I would be bothered by swapping the nozzle. It would be worth it when the print is done. So for me personally it wouldn't be a problem.

Also, I would like to run some prints with a smaller Nozzle once.

Does anybody have any experience with this?

 

[SandervG 1,521]

And my compliments about the prints Gijs, great job!!

 

[colorfabb 3]

Hi Gijs,

Looks really nice. Does it exhibit the same temp / colour relationship as Laywoo-d3?

 

Hi Troy, thanks for the reply! It doesn't exhibit the same temp/colour relationship. I've tried printing between 200 and 250 and the color stayed similar.

 

what about this idea... buy 80 euros worth of this new plastic and get a .08 nozzle free !

Ian :smile:

 

Hi Ian, good idea! however supplying and having all different kinds of nozzles in stock would be a pain. So how about we deliver some proper free drill bits with the filament? Then you can drill out an old left over nozzle yourself. It's not that difficult

 

Also, I would like to run some prints with a smaller Nozzle once.

Does anybody have any experience with this?

 

Hi Sander, thanks for the reply! I have only tried bigger nozzles, up to 1,6mm. As a user of the Ultimaker different nozzles creates lots of poof printinssibilities in terms g strategy. Vases and such are ideal to print with bigger nozzles. And as a for filament producers they can suddenly start creating materials previously not thought of because of the small diameter size.

 

[rhymeandreason 2]

I think I would put a .8mm nozzle as the 'second' nozzle, and use that for certain materials or printing vases fast.

To me that is more useful than printing 2 colors.

Or, even if you have two .4mm nozzles, you could use the second one just for abs or nylon, which are higher temperatures.

I don't have a second nozzle installed, but I've been trying different materials and I notice switching between them is tricky.

The wood filament looks great!

Is it stronger than the laywood filament? I like how it's lighter color. Would be good for making mini furniture.

 

[jameshs 42]

I would swap nozzles for a different filament.

beginning to think that I should have the 0.4, a 0.65 and a 0.8 ..... with possibly the need for 1mm for some really beefy stuff!

So I would keep the original formulation as the increased speed of the larger nozzle would also be interesting.

 

[3dcase 37]

But you still need to swap the Nozzle Ian

I don't think the problem lies with the costs for the Nozzle.

Personally I would like a larger variety of nozzles (+ filaments) and I don't think if I want to make a large beautifull print I would be bothered by swapping the nozzle. It would be worth it when the print is done. So for me personally it wouldn't be a problem.

Also, I would like to run some prints with a smaller Nozzle once.

Does anybody have any experience with this?

 

Hi sander,

I use a 0.2 nozzle sometimes for small modeltrain parts, works well, gives you more detail.

But have to print slow, gives a higher pressure in your tube, to force it trough the hole.

will a bigger nozzle help you in speeding up the printing? I wonder, will the heater be big enough to heat up the bigger flow?

More variation in nozzle diameters would be a good thing for in the ultimaker shop, can't remember where I got the 0.2mm nozzle, it fits but is higher. So you have to adjust the endstop. Would be nice to have a range with the same outer dimensions.

 

[gr5 2,189]

Illuminarti and (the famous!) Joris both use larger nozzles. I keep forgetting the sizes. I think maybe .65 and .8 respectively. Joris needs it for his cups. If I tried to print these cups with only one nozzle pass I think they would leak:

http://www.thingiverse.com/joris/designs

 

[dree 0]

I would also swap nozzles for a different filament, screw one out, the other one in, man does that in a minute or less.

Dree

 

[colorfabb 3]

The wood filament looks great!

Is it stronger than the laywood filament? I like how it's lighter color. Would be good for making mini furniture.

 

Yes it's very strong! We've printed an Ultimaker Handle, this is me carying an Ultimaker Dual Extrusion with 2 spools of PLA using the printed handle!

Also printed a lenshood, which feels just as firm as PLA. I've tried this particular lenshood with Laywood first but it came out so soft and rubbery I could turn it inside out! The formulation we're working with hardens immediately, like PLA would.

 

[illuminarti 18]

Yes, I currently use a 0.65mm nozzle for pretty much everything. I find it's a good size because its thick enough to do walls for many objects in a single pass, where 0.4mm is just too thin. It also allows for much faster volumetric flow rates so you can print good quality, reliably - so it reduces the print time and/or improves the chance of success. And for most purposes there is little or no discernible difference in quality or resolution compared to using a 0.4mm nozzle.

I recently did some testing with http://www.extrudable.me/2013/08/13/printing-with-laybrick/, and got some really nice prints - Kai said they were the best prints he'd seen with the material; I wonder if that is helped by the larger nozzle size I use too.

 

[foehnsturm 969]

BTW, is there any reason why Ultimaker uses a screw instead of a nut as nozzle?

Using a nut would also remove the somewhat critical brass pipe to brass pipe joint within the heater block.

Looks like changing a nut should be easier than changing the screw-type nozzle.

 

[codemaven 0]

I'm surprised that people here actually manage to change their nozzles.... Last time I tried to take my nozzle off to fix a clog it took me two hours to get it off... and it was up to temp... Then when I tried to put it back on I realized I had damaged the thread on the brass tube so I had to buy a new one. My threads over time had basically become welded together... I don't think I could remove my nozzles now again without damage.

Regards,

Troy.

 

[woofy 12]

Last time I tried to take my nozzle off to fix a clog it took me two hours to get it off...

Regards,

Troy.

 

That was my thought as well. I don't have my UM2 yet but I have an UP printer. I tried to take the nozzle off that at one point to clean it: and failed. It has "welded" itself solid. If it ever needs replacing I know it will be a new heater block.

If the same applies to other printers then It's hard to see how enough people will bother to make it economically viable.

 

[colorfabb 3]

Last time I tried to take my nozzle off to fix a clog it took me two hours to get it off...

 

Interesting to hear that people are having different experiences regarding swapping nozzles. I change nozzles quite often on a few UM's. Just heat it up (220C), use a wrench to hold the heater block and then use a nut driver to gently unscrew the nozzle. When chaning a nozzle on a UM that's been printing with the same nozzle for a long time I do notice it is a bit harder to unscrew the nozzle, never had it break though.

 

[ian 32]

same here, i have had a few heat block and nozzles that came apart no problem and then one combination that after a few days use... will NEVER !! come apart again... i tried ! ;-)

Ian

 

[foehnsturm 969]

Does "welded" refer to leaking PLA/ABS creeping between brass and aluminum thread?

 

[Nicolinux 288]

+1 for having a second bigger nozzle with dualstrusion. I wouldn't be willing to swap nozzles often because (even from my limited experience - read I have experienced clogging) putting the hotend together was not easy and I wouldn't want to risk breaking it.

 

[codemaven 0]

Hi Foehnsturm,

No, in my case welded means that the threads have meshed together and then oxidised. It also seems that the brass and aluminium expand and contract at different rates with temperature so they seem to work themselves tighter to the point where they just won't budge. I pretty much only print PLA so I don't have anything flowing between the threads that is a higher melting point. I get green oxidation on the brass threads where they are in contact with the aluminium, which I've attributed to some sort of galvanic action. I'm in the UK so it's fairly humid here, but I wouldn't say that it's more humid than The Netherlands. Do others not have this issue?

Regards,

Troy.

 

[colorfabb 3]

I get green oxidation on the brass threads where they are in contact with the aluminium, which I've attributed to some sort of galvanic action.

 

Hi troy, I've had the threads on the brass turn dark, probably because of PLA that got inbetween the heaterblock and nozzle. I've never seen green oxidation though.

 

[gr5 2,189]

I removed my nozzle for the first time after 9 months of use and it came off pretty easily. However I have never printed ABS. Only PLA. I believe I only heated to 180C.

The UM2 apparently doesn't have a nozzle that you can unscrew - not to my eye anyway. The nozzle and the heater block I believe are all one unit. So changing nozzles on the UM2 is more complicated.