Following a long period of heavy use, my Taz 4 has earned itself the reward of some upgrades. Among other things, I ordered a “Single Extruder Tool Head v2” and unintentionally purchased the 0.35 mm diameter nozzle. My recollection is that the 0.50mm nozzle is generally recommended.
I haven’t removed it from the box yet so I have the potential to exchange it, but before I do I thought I should ask what benefit I might gain from the smaller nozzle? Would there be a reason to maintain both sizes?
The smaller nozzle would allow you to print things with sharper corners and generally makes printing thinner layers easier, though it is possible to print very thin layers with a 0.5mm nozzle as well. Print time on a 0.35mm nozzle is going to be higher, but if you mainly print smaller parts, it can be worth keeping around. You can also order a replacement nozzle in a different size, The ones used on the hexagon aren’t that bad to swap out apparently.
Thank you for the reply. So I could use a 0.35 mm as a “high detail” extruder and 0.50 mm as “general use.” That’s a good enough excuse for me, I’ll just order a 0.50 mm tool head v2 and keep both around.
im going to buy a 2nd extruder too… Ive been wondering the same thing… Ive seen some incredible detail etc in the .5mm nozzle. im not sure how much better it can get with the .35… I wouldnt want to swap nozzles, as lulzbot doesnt recomend doing that. the torque etc can be off and ooze, or break etc.
just to confuse the issue I’ve been using 0.4 nozzles that are also pretty big, and unscrew for cleaning easily (when hot). Just soak them in acetone. Uh, maybe alcohol for PLA, I print mostly ABS.