Nozzle Options

[thechewiestbacca]

I'm looking to purchase a new nozzle for the HE280, and when looking on SeeMeCNC's website, I noticed that there was a brass and stainless steel option. Is there a performance difference between the two? Or does the stainless steel just look better? Also, while I know that a finer width produces higher quality, does a finer width lead to more issues? Should I stick with the default .5, or go down to .4 or lower?

[Xenocrates]

Here's a basic breakdown of the various options, even beyond seeme's offerings.

Plated Copper- High thermal conductivity, very high temperature, low stick of materials. If abrasive materials are used, the plating will be worn off and the copper will oxidize at temperature. Available primarily from/for E3D.

Brass/bronze- These are typical copper alloys. They are rather soft and still have a good thermal conductivity. When used with abrasive filaments, they will rapidly wear, and even standard plastics will eventually deform the nozzle bore. Cheap and easily available.

Stainless steel- Low thermal conductivity, corrosion resistant, chemical resistant. They are also abrasion resistant, but less so than hardened steel. They are more expensive than brass and many hardened options. They are the only option that is likely to be able to be considered food safe, and so for food contact items, should be used.

Hardened steel- low thermal conductivity, abrasion resistant. These nozzles will last for a long time even with carbon fiber or glass filled filaments. It should be noted that using a blowtorch to clean them may alter the temper. They will damage bare glass.

Tungsten nozzles- A third party product mostly meant for E3D style hotends, these have very good properties and are very similar to commercial injection molding nozzles. They are expensive and available in limited quantities and sizes.

Ruby tipped- Designed to fit the E3D ecosystem, they have the best potential for abrasion resistance at the bore, and the rest of the body is brass, which keeps thermal conductivity up. However, they are only available for 3mm filament, in limited sizes, and are expensive.


Nozzle sizes:
.15- Experimental from E3D. very high detail, but requires specific plastics and polymers to work at all. Not recommended.
.2- small bore, high detail, low speed, considered for a while to be the lower boundary of effective FDM nozzle sizes. Wants for additional torque and slower feedrates, further curtailing the volumetric speed.
.25
.3
.35 - Middling high detail, reasonable speed.
.4 - Considered middle of the road for standard hotends
.5
.6
.75
.8
1.
1.2 Highest speed, designed for E3D volcano style hotends. Low detail, high strength.

[Jimustanguitar]

Anybody noticed these yet?
http://olssonruby.com/

A ruby orifica hotend ought to be pretty durable. They're pricey, but if they outlast multiples of the alternative, maybe that's worth something.
Anybody know the thermal coefficients on Ruby vs Brass?

[thechewiestbacca]

Thank you so much Xenocrates. I will use that as my guideline for my purchase. And, as much as those "Olson Ruby" nozzles look awesome, I don't think it's worth paying $90 for. (Costs over half of what the HE280 costs)

[Jimustanguitar]

Thank you so much Xenocrates. I will use that as my guideline for my purchase. And, as much as those "Olson Ruby" nozzles look awesome, I don't think it's worth paying $90 for. (Costs over half of what the HE280 costs)

But, if it outlasts 3 of the steel nozzles from E3D, you've got your investment back.
Hard to say if it's worth it or not. I don't print that many abrasives, so it probably isn't for me.

[thechewiestbacca]

Yes I agree. I am just printing with PLA, and woud like too start some flexibles, so I won't need anything fancy . Thank you all again! I think that I will end up going with a .35 nozzle diameter and either brass or stainless steel.

[mhackney]

I print a LOT of carbon fiber PLA and I'm still on my original SS .4mm E3D nozzle. No noticeable wear at all.

[Xenocrates]

Thank you so much Xenocrates. I will use that as my guideline for my purchase. And, as much as those "Olson Ruby" nozzles look awesome, I don't think it's worth paying $90 for. (Costs over half of what the HE280 costs)

But, if it outlasts 3 of the steel nozzles from E3D, you've got your investment back.
Hard to say if it's worth it or not. I don't print that many abrasives, so it probably isn't for me.

Problem with the Ruby ones is the only ones I can find for sale are 2.85, although they state 1.75 is in beta. I also don't see a lot of size options, so I'm not a huge fan of that idea (I like to keep a full set of nozzles, and according to fedex, my .15 should arrive tomorrow)

[TruckerGeek]

As always, great information. I was going to ask the exact same question @thechewiestbacca asked. Two follow up questions...

Brass/bronze- These are typical copper alloys. They are rather soft and still have a good thermal conductivity. When used with abrasive filaments, they will rapidly wear, and even standard plastics will eventually deform the nozzle bore. Cheap and easily available.

Stainless steel- Low thermal conductivity, corrosion resistant, chemical resistant. They are also abrasion resistant, but less so than hardened steel. They are more expensive than brass and many hardened options. They are the only option that is likely to be able to be considered food safe, and so for food contact items, should be used.

What difference does the low or good thermal conductivity mean? I am currently using ABS and PLA (less used). I am looking at printing some Nylon. Does this mean anything to me? In other words, would steel be better just because it is stronger or because it does not have as good thermal conductivity, I should stick with the nozzle that came with my HE280?

As far as size, I would prefer to stick with the SeeMeCNC nozzles, which range from .4 to 1mm. What difference would this make to my prints? If I go with .4 instead of .5 would that allow for thinner layer heights, as well as higher resolution prints? I assume that would also increase time. When printing ABS would this increase the likelihood of warping and other such issues?

I have finally got my leveling issues resolved, generally have good bed adhesion and get pretty good prints most of the time. In other words, I think I have the basics down--now looking to make minor improvements in print quality, etc.. By looking into changing nozzle size, am I looking at getting into more problems...?

Thanks!

[Xenocrates]

As always, great information. I was going to ask the exact same question @thechewiestbacca asked. Two follow up questions...

Brass/bronze- These are typical copper alloys. They are rather soft and still have a good thermal conductivity. When used with abrasive filaments, they will rapidly wear, and even standard plastics will eventually deform the nozzle bore. Cheap and easily available.

Stainless steel- Low thermal conductivity, corrosion resistant, chemical resistant. They are also abrasion resistant, but less so than hardened steel. They are more expensive than brass and many hardened options. They are the only option that is likely to be able to be considered food safe, and so for food contact items, should be used.

What difference does the low or good thermal conductivity mean? I am currently using ABS and PLA (less used). I am looking at printing some Nylon. Does this mean anything to me? In other words, would steel be better just because it is stronger or because it does not have as good thermal conductivity, I should stick with the nozzle that came with my HE280?

As far as size, I would prefer to stick with the SeeMeCNC nozzles, which range from .4 to 1mm. What difference would this make to my prints? If I go with .4 instead of .5 would that allow for thinner layer heights, as well as higher resolution prints? I assume that would also increase time. When printing ABS would this increase the likelihood of warping and other such issues?

I have finally got my leveling issues resolved, generally have good bed adhesion and get pretty good prints most of the time. In other words, I think I have the basics down--now looking to make minor improvements in print quality, etc.. By looking into changing nozzle size, am I looking at getting into more problems...?

Thanks!

Honestly, the thermal conductivity isn't a big problem with most nozzles, as the plastic is the limiter. For high Flow printing, you might need to raise the temperature slightly to make up for it. It's not that difficult to deal with different materials (I usually use hardened steel). Nozzle size might cause more problems, but if you slow down and then adjust upwards in speed, you can avoid most of the issues, while refining your profile.

[Acidshock]

I got a couple of those tungsten nozzles on the way. They are backordered right now but I can't wait to see how they perform considering they beat brasses specs in almost every way. Of course the proof will be if they actually live up to those claims.