1.75 mm Filament Options

Hi All-

New to the forum, planning on picking up a Taz 6 before the end of the year (waiting to see if there’s a Black Friday deal). I’ve been lurking for a couple of weeks, trying to absorb pertinent information so I’m not at a complete loss when I actually get the hardware.

I assembled my own CNC kit earlier this year (X-Carve), and have developed a pretty good handle (if I do say so myself) on modeling and CAM. I should download Cura and play around a little in there to get some familiarity with slicing. I’m an electrical engineer by profession, to boot, so I feel like I have an adequate level of technical competency, and am confident in my experimenting, problem solving, and learning capabilities. :slight_smile:

Anyway, enough blabber… One of the (very few) things that irks me a little about the Taz printers is their use of 3 mm filament extrusion hardware as opposed to 1.75 mm, as there seems to be a significantly wider selection of brands and varieties of 1.75 mm filament available. I have read that many people have gotten away with using 1.75 mm filament on their stock Taz tool heads needing only to use slightly conservative extrusion settings, if requiring any adjustment at all (beyond telling Cura that they’re using smaller filament, of course. I’ve also read of people inserting PTFE tubing into their hot end and cutting it right at the hobbed bolt (at an appropriate angle) to help eliminate buckling between the hobbed bolt and nozzle. Lastly, replacing the hotend for one designed for 1.75 mm filament is also an option - Hexagon 1.75 mm hotends don’t seem too difficult to come by, and even switching to another brand/manufacturer doesn’t seem terribly daunting.

Going the PTFE route seems easiest/simplest, but you lose the “all metal” aspect of the hotend. My question is, is that a big deal? PTFE has a melting point somewhere above 300 °C, and pretty much every filament type I’ve looked into has a melting point fairly well below that, generally not exceeding the upper 200’s. Can flexible filament still be used with the PTFE mod applied? I guess a simpler question would be, are there any drastic advantages to replacing the entire hotend for 1.75 mm filament support as opposed to just using a PTFE tube?

…also, honestly, I’d like to know if this tree is even worth barking up. Obviously the available selection of 3 mm filaments isn’t lacking, there just appears to be much more available in the smaller diameter, especially when it comes to exotics.

Thanks all, looking forward to joining the community!

Buckling after the hobbed bolt will only happen when printing soft filaments. There are modified extruder bodies with the gap after the hobbed bolt.

If you’re using the PTFE tubing, it shouldn’t extend into the hot portion of the hot end… it will only be in the body.

With that said, its easy enough to print a 1.75mm compatible Wade’s extruder body and install a 1.75mm hotend.

Also worth just trying the 1.75mm with the OEM extruder… its been known to work.

I and one of my neighbors who also has a Taz 6 have had good success (sometimes better than the standard 3mm filaments) with 1.75mm. I have only tried on the stock ToolHead, my dual V3 tool head is finicky and currently on hiatus until I have the patience to deal with it.

I started with a Printbot and when I got my Taz6 I had a bunch of 1.75mm filament still. I cut about 1" of PTFE tube after shoving it down the shaft and marking the point just below the hobbed bolt. I cut it at an angle and place the shorter end towards the bolt. I have printed a bunch with that set up and just used some needle nose pliers to pull that tube out when I use 3mm filament.

I found that with my printrbot I was using hatchbox filament from amazon which seemed to print well but was also cheap. Since going to the Taz I’ve been buying and using “higher quality” filament bought from the store here or atomic filament all in 3mm. Maybe its that I got all the standard trinket prints out of my system on the printrbot but I don’t mind paying a few bucks more for IC3D or Polymaker or Atomic filament since the prints I’m doing are bigger and I want better quality. You mention specifically exotics and I’ll be the first to admit I have only used woodfill but typically my go to is PETG.

Anyway, good luck using the 1.75. The little tube trick has worked well for me.