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168

Every time I attempt to use a abrasion resistant hardened tool-steel nozzle I run into a huge number of problems... the heat transfer difference between Brass and steel is huge and I end up with really poor quality prints, clogging, etc.

Everyone says that a if you print glow-in-the-dark or wood fiber or carbon fiber that you will blow out your brass nozzle super quick... when I first ran into these problems I just switched back to brass and decided to throw out the nozzle and replace when it became a problem... the brass nozzles are so cheap I just did not see the point. This has served me well, but I was always printing fairly small parts. I'm about to dive into a RC plane project with some fairly large carbon fiber parts with multi-day print times and I am worried about wearing out the brass nozzle mid-print and I am wondering if I should revisit hardened tool-steel nozzles.

Every time I attempt to use a abrasion resistant hardened tool-steel nozzle I run into a huge number of problems... the heat transfer difference between Brass and steel is huge and I end up with really poor quality prints, clogging, etc. Everyone says that a if you print glow-in-the-dark or wood fiber or carbon fiber that you will blow out your brass nozzle super quick... when I first ran into these problems I just switched back to brass and decided to throw out the nozzle and replace when it became a problem... the brass nozzles are so cheap I just did not see the point. This has served me well, but I was always printing fairly small parts. I'm about to dive into a RC plane project with some fairly large carbon fiber parts with multi-day print times and I am worried about wearing out the brass nozzle mid-print and I am wondering if I should revisit hardened tool-steel nozzles.

(post is archived)

[–] [deleted] • 1 pt

I've been using an e3d nozzle-x i print only in nylon-x or the generic nylon carbon mixtures. Ran about 2-3 2lb rolls through my printer so far and haven't changed nozzles. Ill probably just get another extruder/hotend completely if i decide to change materials and swap back and forth.

[–] • 1 pt (edited )

D2 should be fine, I have no personal experience using it for that purpose however. I can't imagine it would have a problem though. Maybe ping @sporkulon I know he has a 3d printing rig and experience

[–] • 1 pt

I have been using A2. Does the D2 transfer heat more like a standard brass nozzle?

[–] [deleted] • 0 pt

A2 and D2 are both tool steels and have damned close to the same thermal transfer rates.

I suspect if you are having lots of trouble printing with one you should do a temp test and see if higher printing temps help the issues.

Different filaments known to be abrasive wear the nozzles at different rates and yeah, brass nozzles are so cheap that if you can finish your project with one it's disposable, let us know how it went!

Love to see a printed RC plane here!

[–] • 0 pt

So I went ahead and bought a D2 nozzle to see if it was the critical difference and I have to say I am seeing a big difference between D2 and A2 right off the bat... I think I will be able to dial in this nozzle just fine. My A2 tool steel nozzle just went into the trash.

[–] • 0 pt

Yeah, I just wish there was a way to estimate how long I can push a brass nozzle before it wares out... up to now I have just been proactively swapping the nozzle after about 300g of filament but this project has a few 48+ hour prints and some of these carbon fiber filaments are really expensive... I am worried about getting 700g into it and then ruining the print and wasting a lot of money... and conversely I am worried about running a bunch of test prints with really expensive filament and wasting a bunch of money. My gut says to stick with the brass because despite the warnings I have never actually seen one show evidence of wear when I swap it out

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

https://www.hudsontoolsteel.com/technical-data/steelD2 It's got decent resistance to abrasives. Copper and brass would always conduct heat better than any steel really

[–] • 0 pt

Yes, they work great. Hardened steel are the only nozzles that I use.

Be sure to ONLY get E3D as other manufacturers don't drill properly.