# Extruder weights and possible alternatives? **URL:** \ **Category:** Hardware\ **Created:** [June 30, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/extruder-weights-and-possible-alternatives/664 "2014-06-30T17:10:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![unxetas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/67e7ee/32.png) [@unxetas](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/unxetas)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/extruder-weights-and-possible-alternatives/664/1 "2014-06-30T17:10:21Z")
Howdy 🙂 Does anyone know off hand the full weight of the extruder/hotend assembly on the TAZ? I’m messing around with a few things and I’ve had this strange urge to replace the greg’s reloaded wade extruder with something else… I’d like to try to reduce weight on the whole X assembly and be able to move and print faster, particularly being able to crank the acceleration up. I have similar plans for the Y axis as well, but that will come later! Also, for the folks that have dual extruders, did you have to reduce the speeds and acceleration down on your printer, due to the extra weight? Cheers! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rufu5](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f14d63/32.png) [@rufu5](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/rufu5)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 1:32pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/extruder-weights-and-possible-alternatives/664/2 "2014-07-02T13:32:51Z")
The toolhead (buda + extruder + extruder mount) is about 700 grams, or 1.5 lbs. The entire carriage (toolhead + x-carriage + x-carriage guide + double bearing holder + single bearing holder is about 850 grams, or 1.9 lbs. Yes, typically a dual extruder setup will need to be run with lower speeds and accelerations than a single. ---
**Author:** ![unxetas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/67e7ee/32.png) [@unxetas](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/unxetas)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/extruder-weights-and-possible-alternatives/664/3 "2014-07-02T16:35:11Z")
Thanks! I finally remembered I had an old school kitchen scale and weighed it last night, got about the same number, but wasn’t sure how accurate it was, so I appreciate your reply! I’m thinking about trying the ultibots micro extruder… Some pros and cons, but you could almost have two micro extruders for the weight of one Greg’s single… ---
**Author:** ![Orias](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/orias/32/3_2.png) [@Orias](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Orias)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 5:04pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/extruder-weights-and-possible-alternatives/664/4 "2014-07-02T17:04:58Z")
You could also try a bowden/dual bowden setup, to get the extruder body off the X axis, to eliminate a majority of the weight. ---
**Author:** ![unxetas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/67e7ee/32.png) [@unxetas](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/unxetas)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/extruder-weights-and-possible-alternatives/664/5 "2014-07-02T17:51:34Z")
I did consider that, but one of the reasons I’d like a dual extruder is to print flexible filaments along with the more rigid stuff. I had a bowden extruder on my mini kossel and at least with PLA, it was really darn good! Pretty long retractions to eliminate stringing, but it was more than fast enough to not be a problem. I guess it wouldn’t be a terrible idea to use a bowden for ABS/PLA and a micro extruder for flexible filaments! The combination might still be lighter than the current single extruder 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Orias](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/orias/32/3_2.png) [@Orias](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Orias)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/extruder-weights-and-possible-alternatives/664/6 "2014-07-02T19:25:33Z")
You can still run flexible materials through a bowden, and compensate for retraction by just moving really, really fast between points. It would be interesting to see. ---
**Author:** ![unxetas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/67e7ee/32.png) [@unxetas](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/unxetas)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/extruder-weights-and-possible-alternatives/664/7 "2014-07-02T20:53:42Z")
Interesting… I was under the impression that flexible rubbery type stuff wouldn’t work at all with bowden extruders as the filament gets squished inside the bowden tube. I guess it’s worth some experimenting! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![unxetas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/67e7ee/32.png) [@unxetas](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/unxetas)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2014, 9:26pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/extruder-weights-and-possible-alternatives/664/8 "2014-07-02T21:26:47Z")
Did a bit of research and it seems like a bowden extruder can indeed work! Thanks for the tip Orias…