Super hard nozzles - Test pilots

[Anders Olsson]

So, what better way to test this new forum than presenting this thing:

I have been struggling with various design issues past months, but things have more or less been sorted out now.. (the final version will look a bit different though)
This is basically a call for anyone who is printing abrasive materials and want to test a beta-preproduction version of this nozzle (1.75 or 3 mm , compatible with Olsson or E3D hotends).
I will send it for free, but I would like to get feedback in return.

So far, we have not managed to cause ANY wear on it with Colorfabb XT-CF20.
My custom made highly loaded boron carbide filament wears it very slightly, but that is the worst thing anyone is ever likely to 3D-print..

Anyone who prints GMASS X-ray shielding will get priority, apart from that it is first come-first serve. (obvious technology thief's not included )

[Neotko]

Now that's a nice first post!

[LePaul]

That is very impressive!

[Neotko]

I had the honour of testing the first models and it's amazing the quality. Not only it's really hard, but also it keeps the heat like copper (unlike steel ones). Also the overhangs quality it's superb.

And more details I don't know if I can share yet

[Anders Olsson]

I don't mind of you write a bit
You have probably put much more effort on comparing and optimizing printing quality with these nozzles than I have.

[Blizz]

Always nice stuff you're working on
I'll normally get my very first drone in a couple weeks (excited!)
I was actually thinking on trying ColorFabb XT-CF20 to make some hard protective shells for it.
Might be interesting then to give your nozzle a test-spin, heard the material is terrible for your printer.

[Titus]

Wow that's pretty cool! They fit in UMO's too right? Is that an insert of another material? Curious what it is!
I'm not printing so much as others here, but glowfill/bronzefill seem to destroy nozzles indeed. Got some Carbonfill to try out.

Let me know if you want someone to test it on an UMO

[Anders Olsson]

Okay, I will see if I can make one for you, still have parts for a few more.
Neotko has unsuccessfully tried to destroy this kind of nozzle with carbon filled filament, not a single scratch on it after printing a kilo

Interestingly, I get reports that the hardened E3D-nozzle, which E3D claim will not wear, in fact also does wear when printing carbon filled plastics.
So those tiny carbon fibers are really quite tough on nozzles.

We are also running another project in parallel with a different approach for wear resistant nozzles, but that I can not talk about yet..

[Titus]

Okay, I will see if I can make one for you, still have parts for a few more.
Neotko has unsuccessfully tried to destroy this kind of nozzle with carbon filled filament, not a single scratch on it after printing a kilo

Don't go through a lot of effort! Only if you want someone to test it on an UMO, I'm sadly not gonna print kilo's
Did you talk to Korneel? If there's someone printing a lot it's him on his UM2('s?)

[Neotko]

Anders, not a kilo, 8 kilos on the beta I have now.

I need to get some free time to run all the top layers pla test again now that my system it's properly calibrated. It's been a pain to fix the china parts (to use 1.75 on umo+), but nothing a good drill can't fix

[Anders Olsson]

Wow, I did not realize you printed that much, maybe one should inspect the nozzle again then.

Korneel, among other people, have tested another similar nozzle but with a 0.5 mm hole in the jewel.
Those nozzles had a jewel from another manufacturer and that jewel did not have the same finish as the 0.4 mm ones.
Korneel had some issues with the printing quality in certain cases with those ones, it is not fully understood why.
So I am not sure if he is up for testing the 0.4 mm one, but I might ask him
Other users reported the 0.5 mm version worked just fine though.

The 0.4 mm one has performed very well for me and for Neotko, but it still would be good with more testers as I said.
In particular, it would be good to explore printing properties a bit further. Neotko can tell more about his experiences if he wants to.

[LePaul]

Do these work on the Ultimaker Original? (Not UMO+)

The timing is neat, since I just bought a spool of ColorFab XT-CF20 and 0.40 hardened nozzle from PrintedSolid.com I asked him if he would price match E3D's special and he graciously did! I am looking forward to trying out this filament (and the the trial and error phase of a usable print!)

[Neotko]

Yes lepaul, umo/umo+ hotend it's the same since the hotend v2

[Anders Olsson]

It might we worth to mention by the way, that I posted information about this nozzle more than half a year ago at the Ultimaker-forum: https://ultimaker.com/en/community/1114 ... ted?page=2
As you can see though, I already had much more response on this forum (Neotko was the only one that contacted me from the Ultimaker forum post)

[Roboduck]

I've been using E3D hardened steel nozzles with XT-CF20 for a while now and while they hold up much better than the brass they still see a lot of wear on the tip. Mostly the tip edges get rounded which can cause bad layer adhesion and filament curling up onto the nozzle.

I'm excited to see for myself how well the ruby nozzles hold up and how they print. They look really promising!