Recommended Hardware for small detailed parts

General Hardware
1

Hello,
I’m trying to figure out as much as I can before I drop the money for a 3d printer. I have narrowed it down to a LULZ bot, so now its all about the options. What I want to use this for is printing electrical connector housings. So I’m going to need the ability to do small parts with fine detail. For example the current connector I’m working on is 21mm long with thirteen electrical contacts spaced at 1.5 mm apart.

Does the current Taz 3 come with the Budaschnozzle 2.0c?
What size Nozzle in the stock kit?
With the small resolution I am needing should I change the nozzle? 0.15mm,0.25mm,?
Is one material better than another when doing small detail?

Is there any other must have hardware that doesn’t come with it?

Thanks,

2

Does the current Taz 3 come with the Budaschnozzle 2.0c?

Yes.

What size Nozzle in the stock kit?

.35 mm

With the small resolution I am needing should I change the nozzle? 1.5,2.5,?

This depends on what the smallest feature you are trying to resolve is. If you are trying to print a feature that is < x mm, then you will probably want a nozzle smaller than x mm. I think 1.5 and 2.5 mm nozzles are bigger than what you are looking for.

Is one material better than another when doing small detail?

Not particularly, though you may want to try a few different materials out to see what works best for your application. ABS and PLA are good starting points.

Is there any other must have hardware that doesn’t come with it?

No, the TAZ is a complete kit; it comes with the printer, tools, and a manual.

3

Thanks for the input.

I had to many numbers in my head when referencing nozzle sizes, I went back and corrected my question from 1.5, 2.5 to 0.15 and 0.25mm nozzles.

When doing small parts with PLA is the fan needed or is it more important when doing larger geometries with larger cooling times?

4

I’ve printed lots of small parts in PLA & ABS on my stock TAZ without trouble, but I found I get better detail with a fan. For small parts without any overhang, the difference is probably negligible, but generally, prints with a fan will be as good as or better than prints without a fan for me. If you think you’ll use PLA much, you should probably go ahead and get a fan. It’ll save some headaches in the long run.

My experience has been that the larger geometries really need it. For large/longer print time prints, it’s pretty easy to get an extruder jam with PLA if you don’t use a fan. Smaller/faster print time prints don’t seem to cause as much of an issue.

  • Adam