Small diameter nozzle for Flashforge (0.1 ~ 0.2[mm])

Does anybody have / know about a small diameter nozzle for Flashforge printers?
I'm currently printing with the standard 0.4[mm] nozzle but require a 0.1 ~ 0.2[mm] nozzle for more detail.

http://i.imgur.com/jqw2Lv2.jpg
Here is a test to see if I could control the low output of a 0.2[mm] nozzle by telling the software I was using a 0.2[mm] nozzle (left) versus the normal 0.4 ~ 0.48[mm] setting (right).

The smaller nozzle allows for more detail and prevents all corners having that >0.2[mm] radius.

So... anybody know where I can buy one? Or do they need to be specially crafted for me?
Also; if anybody has experience with them, feel free to share your thoughts!

You might be able to contact Flashforge China and have them ship some nozzles with the hole not drilled. You might find though that the mechanics of filament feeding and pushing through a small hole wont work out very well. There is a lot more resistance pushing molten filament through a .2mm hole. It also will increase the pressure inside the hot end and might end up back flowing molten plastic up the teflon tube where it can harden and clog easier.

I think you need to buy them from flashforge.

It's the teflon tube that's the problem. Normal nozzles off ebay have a smaller diameter hole at the back end.

I'm going to take my 'spare' (one I'm not currently using) nozzle to tct next week and see if anyone's selling nozzles with the same size back hole. The one I bought off ebay - had a much smaller hole. Presumably for direct filament insertion rather than the teflon tube.

Thanks for the replies guys. Will contact Flashforge themselves! I'll update as soon as I have a reply.

Hi Dargon, just be aware that the nozzle won't specifically give you the resolution you are after.

I've gone down to 0.2 and 0.3mm nozzles on the flashforge, which was easy, it was the filament that proposed the bottleneck in the experiement.

I found I had to buy the pricey filament that has the super super low tolerance to actually handle extruding at that width, otherwise it it comes out too thick.

I can't say they are very good with this info, I had to experiement alot. They will tell you the "tolerance" as in how much the thickness varies in the rolls, ie no more than 0.1mm..

BUT rarely do they tell you the lowest you can print with it. I only have 3 out of about 40 rolls of plastic here that can handle that sort of resolution, 1 white ABS, a natural PLA and white PLA. They can print at 0.1mm on an 0.2mm nozzle no worries, but I put say, a Red ABS through there and I can only extrude at the full 0.2mm otherwise the coloured plastic puffs up just a little, enough to throw the fine 0.1mm layers off.

I don't want to lower your hopes but I have been chasing the max quality on this machine for a while, and admittedly so many things made very little difference, there is a point where you have to be happy and accept that yes, this is the best you can get out of a $1000'ish machine.

There is a reason the Ultimaker and other machines are uber expensive, they do give a better all round quality, it's just most people are not striving for that absolute perfection in the prints, most people just cheer when something comes out of the bloody thing lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Geoff

Hi Dargon, just be aware that the nozzle won't specifically give you the resolution you are after.

I've gone down to 0.2 and 0.3mm nozzles on the flashforge, which was easy, it was the filament that proposed the bottleneck in the experiement.

I found I had to buy the pricey filament that has the super super low tolerance to actually handle extruding at that width, otherwise it it comes out too thick.

I can't say they are very good with this info, I had to experiement alot. They will tell you the "tolerance" as in how much the thickness varies in the rolls, ie no more than 0.1mm..

BUT rarely do they tell you the lowest you can print with it. I only have 3 out of about 40 rolls of plastic here that can handle that sort of resolution, 1 white ABS, a natural PLA and white PLA. They can print at 0.1mm on an 0.2mm nozzle no worries, but I put say, a Red ABS through there and I can only extrude at the full 0.2mm otherwise the coloured plastic puffs up just a little, enough to throw the fine 0.1mm layers off.

I don't want to lower your hopes but I have been chasing the max quality on this machine for a while, and admittedly so many things made very little difference, there is a point where you have to be happy and accept that yes, this is the best you can get out of a $1000'ish machine.

There is a reason the Ultimaker and other machines are uber expensive, they do give a better all round quality, it's just most people are not striving for that absolute perfection in the prints, most people just cheer when something comes out of the bloody thing lol

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Hi, thanks for the reply and explanation.

Though, I still want to try a small nozzle (born stubborn like that) - mind sharing where you got the smaller nozzles from?
I got a reply back from Flashforge, but they are not interested in this at all since it's a 'non-OEM Flashforge part' ... apparently they don't want my money. :rolleyes:

Regarding your message about the max. quality of the Flashforge; I already accepted that when I bought it, but I still want to try to reach that max. before I start printing some sculptures (better print quality = less clean-up/modeling afterwards)

I'd wish to try it as well, did you find a source of your smaller nozzles for FF ?
experimenting is not a bad thing!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dargonfly

Hi, thanks for the reply and explanation.

Though, I still want to try a small nozzle (born stubborn like that) - mind sharing where you got the smaller nozzles from?
I got a reply back from Flashforge, but they are not interested in this at all since it's a 'non-OEM Flashforge part' ... apparently they don't want my money. :rolleyes:

Regarding your message about the max. quality of the Flashforge; I already accepted that when I bought it, but I still want to try to reach that max. before I start printing some sculptures (better print quality = less clean-up/modeling afterwards)

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http://www.micro-swiss.com/#!product...d-25b8c1dc7ee8
0.2mm nozzles here for the MK10 extruder (4mm o.d. PTFE tube)
Graham

The question remains, does it work?

Oh it will work, sort of. It would work better in an all metal setup since the melt pool is bigger. With the .2 nozzle expect to have to print at ridiculously slow speeds. When you 1/2 the diameter, the orifice is actually 4x smaller than the .4. There is serious backpressure build up even with a .4mm nozzle. Multiply that by 4 for the .2. What does back pressure mean? That means resistance that the stepper will have to overcome to keep the filament moving.