printing filament with tungsten

[boep777]

Hi, I am planning to buy M2 for printing tungsten filament (ABS) from gmass for radiation shielding (medical radiator beam attenuation for intensity modulated therapy on mice). One of the issues that came out from the discussion with gmass engineer is rapid wear of the nozzle. So here are the questions
- how complicated is the nozzle replacement on V4 hot end
- is it worth to use hardened steel nozzle
- will filament drive have some issues with such filament
Thanks!

[Matt_Sharkey]

MakerGear M2 was designed with PLA and ABS in mind. more filaments have come up since the original conception, but, rest assured, the M2 can print ABS.

Now because this is a mix with tungsten, it stands to reason that it may wear out the nozzle, which is a trivial cost. The standard brass nozzle should be fine, Steel is optional. It may be worth it to look into a wider nozzle as well, such as 0.50 mm instead of the standard 0.35 mm. The .5mm nozzle would be more forgiving if the tungsten filament proves difficult to extrude.

also I hope you've been given a hefty budget, that gmass stuff is around x25 more expensive than traditional ABS length for length. I'm sure the cost is justified, but, holy moly.

[Tim]

how complicated is the nozzle replacement on V4 hot end

It is about as simple as it gets. Loosen the clamp screw, and the v4 nozzle drops out. Unplug the two connectors. Do the same thing in reverse for the new nozzle. Adjust the distance from the nozzle to the bed, and you're done.

is it worth to use hardened steel nozzle

I don't think the hardened steel nozzles have been used for long enough to be able to say whether the extended lifetime is a good trade-off for the additional cost. But if you have the budget for tungsten filament, then I'd say that yes, it's probably worth it. There's also the down-time when you have to replace the nozzle, but that's probably not worth considering.

will filament drive have some issues with such filament?

I wouldn't expect it. I guess potentially you could get extra wear and tear on the drive gear by biting into a harder filament, but I've never heard anybody mention that before.

[MagicEngineer]

- is it worth to use hardened steel nozzle

I have been unable to find a hardened steel nozzle that will fit the v4, however makergear has a stainless steel nozzle that I am currently using and have been getting better results than I did with the brass nozzle. I bought it to run brass filled pla and it did well. I only printed about 1/3 of the roll, so I can't say what long term effects of printing a metal filled filament would be but since the stainless steel nozzle is the same price as the brass one, it certainly can't hurt.

[Tim]

I have been unable to find a hardened steel nozzle that will fit the v4, however makergear has a stainless steel nozzle that I am currently using. . .

Does that mean that you got a v3b stainless steel nozzle from MakerGear? I had assumed that when people were talking about the stainless steel nozzle on the forum, they were talking about the v4. MakerGear still doesn't appear to be advertising stainless steel nozzles anywhere on the website. I thought that you just purchase the regular nozzle and then write "stainless steel" in the "special instructions".

[Jules]

Gonna display my ignorance here....is stainless steel the same as hardened steel? (Cause if so, then yeah, MakerGear has them for the V4, and you just have to specify that you want SS in the comments when you order the nozzle.)

Got one....haven't used it yet.

[Tim]

Gonna display my ignorance here....is stainless steel the same as hardened steel?

I've been making the implicit assumption that in this context "hardened steel" = "hardened stainless steel" = "stainless steel", but it's not my area of expertise, either.

[wmgeorge]

Tim, I think it would be a toss up until some testing proves one or the other. Hardened alloy steel like tool steel has pretty hard wear resistance, but stainless steel has a lot of wear toughness. It would be nice to know which is better at least for his application. No they are not the same. If I was motivated I would get out my Machinist Reference book.

[Vandal968]

Stainless is not as strong as hardened steel, but it has good wear properties (as do alloy steels). I got a couple of v4 SS nozzles with my last order, haven't tried them yet. I'm a big believer that spare parts on the shelf prevent in-use parts from failing.

cheers,
c

[wmgeorge]

Well I found my Machinery's Handbook and the only thing I got out of it was stainless can not be hardened like alloy steel. It can be cold hardened by working but that's about it. It has chrome and nickel added so its pretty tough but better than hardened/ tempered alloy steel? I don't know. It would be interesting to see some testing.