Super hard nozzles - Test pilots

[gudo]

Time for an update I guess, sorry for being away for so long, lots of stuff to deal with here.

After the initial test batch that you have tested we decided to change the design a bit.
The updated design features a slightly larger ruby, a mechanically stronger fixing of the ruby and (hopefully) improved thermal conductivity.

I am abroad right now but there might be a few pieces available for testing still.
"gudo" actually got one of the very early test pieces of this design, that particular sample has an unpolished ruby which might affect surface quality but should apart from that perform as the final design.

Hi to all
Many thanks Anders ! I tested today the ruby nozzle, here my first impressions
I printed more 1 month ago a blason, I took this Cura file print as a sample for testing the ruby nozzle vs standard brass nozzle.
I notice a huge difference, particularly at the flat surface, layer's traces have become virtually invisible and details are sharper.
It looks like there is less nozzle outlet extrusion friction.
The pic shows on the left side the ruby nozzle print , the material is the same, on the left, with time the PLATEC cleared up by becoming whiter
The printing look is by far much better with the ruby nozzle

[gudo]

sorry ! ruby nozzle print on the picture right side

[MTVDNA]

Wow, you can hardly see the right one is a printed part! Very impressive.

[gudo]

thanks MDVTNA , sure ! I am amazed at the results .

[Dim3nsioneer]

Any ETA for the finished product yet?

[LePaul]

So what's the verdict on the ruby nozzles we have?

Pro's seemed to be very detailed prints

I wouldn't call these Cons...but some curling and needing to have to up the temp a bit

[Amedee]

The only downside for me was the increase in temperature. It does not matter for PLA, but for others on the UMO you might enter in the 'dangerous zone' for the PEEK/Coupler.

[LePaul]

What's that dangerous temp range? I ask because I recall CF temp was up high

[Anders Olsson]

Any ETA for the finished product yet?

There should be a batch ready rather soon, but I am not sure how many will be available for the consumer market this time.
Next batch will take a bit longer due to delivery times.

Regarding printing quality, the ruby tends to print slightly better.
Some materials appears to benefit more than others from the ruby though and how much difference there is of course depends very much on the condition of your reference brass nozzle.
Some of the early brass nozzles were really bad, we eventually had to change manufacturer to solve the quality issues.
Old manufacturer:

New manufacturer:

[Amedee]

What's that dangerous temp range? I ask because I recall CF temp was up high

This is very subjective, but I would say as from 245°C.

At 245°C it all works fine, but the coupler won't last very long. As from 250°C the PEEK might suffer as well.

So to summarize, on UMO:

• Under 240°C: no issues
• 240°C - 250°C: we enter the danger zone: replace coupler often
• Beyond 250°C: danger zone: avoid to go there

If all you print is PLA, there is no issue at all, even when you need to bump-up temperature for the ruby nozzle. But most of the recent materials require higher temperature; just for XT or ABS I am already in the 240°C+ range... As much as I like my UMOs, I'll have to admit that the PEEK/Coupler system is the limiting factor in today's world.

[Meduza]

At Stockholm Makerspace, we have changed both our UMO and UMO+(extended) to use the UM2 head and then upgraded them with rigid spacers and TFM couplers, it is really a good upgrade, and it does add a lot to the user experience, and allows it to run at 260 for extended periods without having to switch couplers too often.

(On the UMO, we use the E3D PT100 amplifier to interface the head, swapped the linear regulator on the mainboard to a switched one and removed a diode to be able to run it all at 24V)

About the ruby nozzle, i have used it as a "all round 0.4mm" for all my prints for a month or two now, and tough it seems to got a higher backpressure, which creates the need to run it a few degrees hotter or a bit slower to get the same throughput, it does seem to have a positive effect of reducing oozing and improving surface quality tough...

[Anders Olsson]

Any ETA for the finished product yet?

An update on this, there is an official release month now
http://learn.colorfabb.com/desu-gan/

Thank you everyone here for making this possible!

I have spent way much more time and money on this than I did on the heater block and I am not sure I will gain much soon, but it feels really nice to be able to finally bring it to the market
It certainly would have been very difficult to do this thought without this forum and the testers here!

Also, I would not have continued this project without 3DVerkstan, I simply don't have time, money, facilities or interest in producing things in larger numbers and selling them to customers.

This version has a larger ruby by the way, so if any of you who tested (except gudo) it gets the new one, you might experience that it has a slightly lower maximum extrusion rate than the prototypes.
It should not be an issue though unless you are trying to set speed records.
The larger ruby makes handling easier and made it possible to make a much stronger mounting of the ruby, which was one thing the testing showed a need for.

[Neotko]

MEN!!! SOO COOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your Ruby Nozzle it's the cherry on top for any high quality printer! Grats!!!!

[nilrog]

Congratulations...and hats off for all the hard work you put into this (and all your testers)!

This nozzle will be on my Christmas shopping list for sure

[LePaul]

How different is that nozzle from the one I have

Edit - I see bigger ruby

Is the nozzle the same size overall ?