I will be following that project closely…
Stage 1.
Wolfie are you still using this Hexagon fan shroud setup that you created and are you happy with it when printing in PLA.
In you pictures it looks like you print the part that puts tension on the filament, pressing it against the hobble bolt. Is there a reason that this needs to be printed. I have a TAZ 4 and purchase the hexagon hot end kit from Lulzbot. I want to get rid of the squirrel cage fan and replace it with yours.
The extruder remains identical. You do NOT need to print any part of the extruder. You only need the head mounting plate and the fan shroud. Thats it. Two parts.
The idler arm in the photos was an early print test of extending the bracketed areas of the arm to support semi-flex filament and has nothing to do with the cooling shroud. I got limited improvement so I never mentioned the design or files for it. I am likely to take the concept in a different direction anyway.
As for PLA. I very RARELY print in PLA pure PLA. Most of my printing is done in ABS. Other than abs I run Tglase, semi-flex as well as copperfil and brassfil. PLA can’t be vapor smoothed safely in a home environment. ABS can. Thats the main reason.
I did print a PLA box to hold some gun cleaning tools for a friend. I used PLA because its more chemical resistant than ABS is to the cleaning fluid and thus won’t be harmed by any residue. It printed just fine with this fan mod.
Do note however, I have switched from the Hexagon to the E3D v6. Not because its any better (its basically the same as far as print quality so far goes), nor because the fan mod didn’t work. The reason for the switch is economics and supply. I can order and receive an E3D hot end in less than a week. I can’t even order and expect delivery in a month of an AO version of the Hex. Unless things have changed, its not even listed in Lulz’ store to even order. Also, the E3D has a larger cool zone and heat sink. Theoretically this should improve the hot-zone isolation for filaments like Brassfil which I found is impossible to print using the Budda nozzles without fans due to heat creep and swelling and the shorter AO hex had issues with larger prints. I didn’t try that filament after the fan mod. Probably should.
I still have my hex and fan mod head. I just don’t use it right now with experimenting with the E3D.
Wolfie Thanks for the quick response. I purchase the hexagon hot end upgrade package from Lulzbot about 2 months ago, so I got the hexagon hot end, motor and wiring, but I have heard so many problems with heat creep because of the fan I decided to go with your new fan setup before I even install the hexagon on my printer. I will still have the old print head setup to convert over to the E3D V6 hot end when every I decide to buy one.
- Would you suggest a 1.75 or 3.0 mm filament setup for the hotend. I have a lot of 1.75 from a previous printer, is there some reason 3.0 might be better than 1.75 filament.
- How about going with a Bowden setup, what are your thoughts
- Do you have a thread on how to build the parts for the E3D v6 setup and how hard is it. Any special tools needed.
- Can you print flex filament with the E3D V6 setup or do you need the Flexi Extruder from Lulzbot.
Thanks again for your help
-
Not sure either way. I have zero experience with 1.75 but here are my thoughts…
1.75 is smaller than 3.00mm. Duh right? My thinking is that the smaller diameter is more diameter critical. Lets say there is a manufacturing tolerance of .01mm (or any amount, pick one). That figure is a much greater percentage of the overall diameter of 1.75 than it is of the 3.00. A 58% bigger difference actually. Other than that, I really can’t think of any difference. -
I will be ordering bowden version of the E3D for use with Ninja or filaflex. But I won’t be remote mounting the extruder drive. I don’t like the idea of the drive being a significant distance from the hot end. This would introduce compression into the mix. A meter of flex filament would compress significantly more than 2" of it. That means you have to compensate with larger retractions and such. More messing about with things you shouldn;t have to. For rigid filament, less of a problem.
-
Yes
E3D V6 Installation Project
I provide a printed plate as well as a washer spacer set in the thread. Simple items to print. Special tools? Everything came with my Taz 5
-
Don’t know. Haven’t tried printing flex with the non-bowden version. I was working on alterations to the standard extruder to try to allow it to print both flex and non-flex without wearing out the PTFE tube. I haven’t worked any more on that project nor have I tried to print flex or semiflex with the E3D.
I haven’t done much with the printer lately. The weather has been nice and I have been spending afternoons and evenings out at the rifle range running my Barrett MRAD at 600yd and testing new loads for it to prepare myself and my 14y granddaughter (she also shoots IDPA pistol comps with me in the winter) for a fall sniper match. This is what I been doing instead of 3D printing lately:
Yea, thats me, fat old fart I am. To wrap your brain around what I am doing, the target I am shooting at is smaller than 1/4 of the build plate on your taz (6"h x 4"w) And I am hitting it from 600 yards (6 football fields or about 2-1/2 city blocks) And I hit it 5 times in a row in less than 20 seconds. And I am working on getting better 
The sound delay you hear, roughly 4.5 seconds between shot and ding, is the .73 sec travel time of the bullet and all the rest is the time sound takes to travel back. Same effect as you see lightning but hear thunder seconds later.
When the weather is nice out, thats what I do. When its not so nice, then I play with the printer