Re: Super hard nozzles - Test pilots
Posted: February 11th, 2016, 5:41 pm
So, I should write some more details about ruby/sapphire nozzles:
Background
I originally made these for printing my boron carbide plastic for neutron shielding, but soon found out that they are useful for abrasive materials in general and that they tend to print a bit better than other nozzles. So it became a project on it's own.
Development
We have gone through several designs of fixing the jewel and several suppliers. It proves to be a challenge, but we are getting there I think.
Nozzles has been sent out for testing, but most of them were 0.5 mm sapphires, looking like this one: For various reasons that design was not optimal, so I focused on the 0.4 mm version seen in the first post.
Performance of current batch of prototypes
The prototypes I have sent or will send are made at my jewelers lathe, which means the precision is not what it should be.
My intention is to further test this concept of assembly and the performance in general, which is normally best done by the users.
It means you get a rather expensive nozzle before everyone else and for free in return for some feedback
The current nozzles might for various reasons have a bit lower performance than the final product, like lower maximum printing speed, but they are all tested by me before delivery and should perform as expected under normal conditions.
How to handle a ruby/sapphire nozzle
The prototypes are a bit fragile and must not be overtightened when mounted as they might break.
I recommend my torque wrench: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/nozzle-torque-wrench when tightening the nozzle.
EDIT: To avoid confusion I erased some text here.
Don't tighten the ruby nozzle more than necessary. The torque wrench will give about 0.25-0.5 Nm which is in my experience always enough.
Ultimaker recommends 1 Nm, which I think is a bit more than needed. Going much higher may destroy the nozzle.
Sapphire/Ruby is fragile, which means that you should be careful not dropping the nozzle on a hard surface.
I also recommend that you try to avoid using rigid metal objects when cleaning a clogged nozzle.
Use a flexible wire from a wire brush rather than a surgical needle and be careful not to bend it!
Motivation and future
So my motivation to try to take this thing beyond the lab is to encourage filament manufacturers to make more interesting filaments filled with various functional materials (like highly electrically conductive, x-ray shielding and such). If the manufacturers has a solid solution to prevent nozzle wear it should be more likely that they produce that kind of stuff.
This is also why I posted information about this early on in the UM-forum: To prevent anyone from locking the technology to by patents and such.
The improved printing quality is also interesting, Neotko has most experience in that area and can probably tell more.
Current design is not optimal for certain reasons as I mentioned, so if everything goes to plan the a final product will look a bit different.
Those details I will keep to myself though
Background
I originally made these for printing my boron carbide plastic for neutron shielding, but soon found out that they are useful for abrasive materials in general and that they tend to print a bit better than other nozzles. So it became a project on it's own.
Development
We have gone through several designs of fixing the jewel and several suppliers. It proves to be a challenge, but we are getting there I think.
Nozzles has been sent out for testing, but most of them were 0.5 mm sapphires, looking like this one: For various reasons that design was not optimal, so I focused on the 0.4 mm version seen in the first post.
Performance of current batch of prototypes
The prototypes I have sent or will send are made at my jewelers lathe, which means the precision is not what it should be.
My intention is to further test this concept of assembly and the performance in general, which is normally best done by the users.
It means you get a rather expensive nozzle before everyone else and for free in return for some feedback
The current nozzles might for various reasons have a bit lower performance than the final product, like lower maximum printing speed, but they are all tested by me before delivery and should perform as expected under normal conditions.
How to handle a ruby/sapphire nozzle
The prototypes are a bit fragile and must not be overtightened when mounted as they might break.
I recommend my torque wrench: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/nozzle-torque-wrench when tightening the nozzle.
EDIT: To avoid confusion I erased some text here.
Don't tighten the ruby nozzle more than necessary. The torque wrench will give about 0.25-0.5 Nm which is in my experience always enough.
Ultimaker recommends 1 Nm, which I think is a bit more than needed. Going much higher may destroy the nozzle.
Sapphire/Ruby is fragile, which means that you should be careful not dropping the nozzle on a hard surface.
I also recommend that you try to avoid using rigid metal objects when cleaning a clogged nozzle.
Use a flexible wire from a wire brush rather than a surgical needle and be careful not to bend it!
Motivation and future
So my motivation to try to take this thing beyond the lab is to encourage filament manufacturers to make more interesting filaments filled with various functional materials (like highly electrically conductive, x-ray shielding and such). If the manufacturers has a solid solution to prevent nozzle wear it should be more likely that they produce that kind of stuff.
This is also why I posted information about this early on in the UM-forum: To prevent anyone from locking the technology to by patents and such.
The improved printing quality is also interesting, Neotko has most experience in that area and can probably tell more.
Current design is not optimal for certain reasons as I mentioned, so if everything goes to plan the a final product will look a bit different.
Those details I will keep to myself though