What you should know about 3D printer nozzles?

In: Knowledge On: 10 September 2024 Hit: 325

The default nozzle diameter in most modern printers is 0.4 mm. Changing the nozzle takes just a few minutes and can bring a number of benefits. Despite this, few users try to replace the nozzle in their printer. Let's take a look at how replacing your nozzle can improve your experience.

The assumption is that a smaller nozzle is great for detailed but slower prints, while larger nozzles print faster but quality suffers. In reality, however, this is a bit more complicated. In our article, we will present the advantages of smaller and larger nozzles in various situations. But first we need to explain the correlation between layer height and nozzle diameter.

Layer height and 3D printer nozzle diameter

The layer height should not exceed 80% of the diameter of the 3D printer nozzle. If you use a standard 0.4mm nozzle, the maximum layer height is approximately 0.32mm. However, with a 0.6 mm nozzle it is possible to obtain a layer height of up to 0.48 mm.

Apart from these limitations, both parameters are independent of each other. Changing their settings separately will produce completely different results. The nozzle diameter affects the overall level of detail almost exclusively in the horizontal plane (parallel to the print surface). What does this mean? With a smaller 3D printer nozzle you will be able to print a more detailed model - assuming it is placed on the top side of the printed object.

In contrast, layer height affects the level of detail on the vertical and inclined sides of an object. On objects with an organic appearance, there is a much greater chance of seeing individual layers. The lower the layer height, the better the overall result. On the other hand, there is no point in printing rectangular objects with a very low layer height. There will be little or no effect and printing time will be unnecessarily long.

Print with a 3D printer up to 4 times faster!

3D printing is not a quick process. Even a print just a few centimeters high can take several hours, but printing with large diameter nozzles can lead to dramatic improvements in printing speed.

Nozzle for a 3D printer a larger diameter nozzle creates wider paths, which means it takes fewer layers than a smaller diameter nozzle to print a wall of the same thickness. A nozzle with a larger diameter also enables printing with an increased layer height. The combination of these two effects leads to noticeably shorter printing times.

There's a catch, though: if you keep the layer height the same to print something with one circumference, like a vase, you won't notice any speed improvement. This is because the 3D printer nozzle must perform exactly the same sequence of movements, regardless of diameter. The vase will have slightly thicker walls, but the printing time will be almost the same.

Supports in 3D printing

Supports are typically printed as a polyline one circumference wide. If you go to slicer settings you will often notice that the supports are intentionally under-embossed to make them easier to remove. Of course, using a different nozzle from a 3D printer has a direct impact on the width of the support walls. This can be turned into an advantage. By using a smaller nozzle, the supports will be thinner and easier to remove. Using larger nozzles has the opposite effect, leading to wider and stronger supports that may be slightly more difficult to remove.

0.25 mm 3D printer nozzle - advantages and disadvantages

Advantages of the 0.25 mm 3D printer nozzle:

Better looking, aesthetic models
Better resolution in the XY axes - ideal, for example, for jewelry or logos
Extremely easy to remove brackets

Disadvantages of the 0.25 mm 3D printer nozzle

Significantly longer printing times
Higher risk of nozzle clogging
Not compatible with some filaments

Examples of practical use of a 0.25 mm 3D printer nozzle

Printing subtitles

As already mentioned, the nozzle diameter has a noticeable effect on the printing resolution of the plane parallel to the printing surface. This means that the 0.25mm nozzle is suitable for printing detailed text. Let's compare it with the default 0.4 mm nozzle. Parts of the letters may be lost during cutting. This will not happen with a 0.25 mm nozzle. It is worth mentioning that changing the layer height will not affect the readability of the text.

Jewelry printing

This is another great use for the smaller nozzle. The difference between a 0.4mm and 0.25mm nozzle is not that huge because even a 0.4mm nozzle can print small objects quite well. The improvements will be especially noticeable when printing thin lines.

Thumbnail printing

Surprisingly, printing miniatures using a small diameter nozzle leads to quite a small improvement in print quality. The biggest improvement can be seen when printing supports for these objects. Supports printed using a 0.25 mm nozzle are easy to remove and leave almost invisible marks on the object. On the other hand, if you don't need supports, the difference between a 0.4mm and 0.25mm nozzle is close to zero.

0.60 mm 3D printer nozzle - advantages and disadvantages

Printer nozzle 3D 0.60 mm suitable applies to any print that does not contain small details. For example, headphone stands, various holders, stands or flower pots can be printed in half the time it would normally take.

Advantages of the 0.60 mm 3D printer nozzle:

Printing time up to two times shorter
Almost the same print quality as with a 0.4 mm nozzle
Longer-lasting prints
Low risk of nozzle clogging

Disadvantages of the 0.60 mm 3D printer nozzle:

Poorer resolution of small details and texts
Supports are more difficult to remove

An example of practical use of a 0.60 mm 3D printer nozzle

Flower pots and vases

Pots usually do not contain any intricate details, so the difference between a 0.4 mm and 0.6 mm print is almost impossible to notice. In this example we use the same layer height. With the increased layer height, 0.6 mm would complete the print even faster. And thanks to the shape of the pot, the difference wouldn't be too noticeable.

1 mm 3D printer nozzle - advantages and disadvantages

Even prints that take dozens of hours to complete can be completed in just a few hours using a 1 mm nozzle. Compared to a 0.4 mm nozzle, you can achieve up to 5 times faster printing speed. Of course, this comes with a price. For a 1 mm nozzle, the print layer height is typically 0.5 mm, but even higher heights are possible. Of course, the layers of the printed object will be very visible, but this is not always a problem. In some cases, this can even give the model an interesting aesthetic that can be quite difficult to achieve using other methods.

Advantages of a 1 mm 3D printer nozzle

Extremely fast printing
Very durable prints
A unique look with clearly visible layers
Almost zero risk of nozzle clogging

Disadvantages of 1 mm 3D printer nozzle:

Lack of detail
Visible layers
Supports very difficult to remove
The filament seems to disappear from the spool

Choosing the right nozzle for your 3D printer

If we could recommend purchasing just one nozzle as an alternative to the 0.4 mm nozzle, our vote would be for the0.6 mm 3D printer nozzle. It offers noticeably shorter printing times, but it is still possible to print quite detailed models. If you usually print small models with texts, jewelry or logos, you should also consider the 0.25 mm nozzle. The 1 mm version, on the other hand, has limited use but is still quite pleasant to use. This small investment can have a surprisingly big impact on the way you print.

Source: www.prusa3d.com