3D Printer Nozzle Sizes

[HDN]

I just bought an assorted nozzle size kit from Creality for my Ender 5 Plus. It came with two nozzles each of:

0.2 mm
0.3 mm
0.5 mm
0.6 mm
0.8 mm
1.0 mm

And it came with twelve 0.4 mm nozzles, probably because they make twelve times more of those than the other sizes

I started off with a 0.2 mm nozzle to try to get finer detail with 1/265 scale miniatures. Unfortunately I had constant problems with nozzle clogging and none of the solutions I could fine worked, so I gave up on the 0.2 mm nozzle and won't even try the 0.3 mm nozzle. I figure that I should save my money for a SLA resin printer and curing station equipment if I really want to get better detail!

After running some printing scenarios with Cura, I decided to try the 0.6 mm nozzle. Again I'm printing 1/265 scale miniatures at 0.12 mm layer height, and so far it's great! I can get comparable detail to the 0.4 mm nozzle but with about 25% less printing time. It's even better with bigger, less-detailed objects.

Right now I'm printing fourteen 40 mm X 2 mm hexes at a 0.4 mm layer height. They'll be done in about two hours. If I ran the same job with a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.3 mm layer height, it would finish up in about 3.5 hours. So I'm able to print about 40% faster with the bigger nozzle between the thicker line width and allowable thicker layer height.

So if you have a FDM 3D printer, I strongly suggest you give this a try, especially if you're printing bigger objects!

 

[Mrgior31513]

After running some printing scenarios with Cura, I decided to try the 0.6 mm nozzle. Again I'm printing 1/265 scale miniatures at 0.12 mm layer height, and so far it's great! I can get comparable detail to the 0.4 mm nozzle but with about 25% less printing time. It's even better with bigger, less-detailed objects.

Right now I'm printing fourteen 40 mm X 2 mm hexes at a 0.4 mm layer height. They'll be done in about two hours. If I ran the same job with a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.3 mm layer height, it would finish up in about 3.5 hours. So I'm able to print about 40% faster with the bigger nozzle between the thicker line width and allowable thicker layer height.

So if you have a FDM 3D printer, I strongly suggest you give this a try, especially if you're printing bigger objects!

What filament are you using? I have used mostly ABS for the better wear, and built a great enclosure which helps a ton on prints, I'm going to see about ordering some 0.6mm for my Ender 5 Plus for when I get around to it.

 

[HDN]

What filament are you using? I have used mostly ABS for the better wear, and built a great enclosure which helps a ton on prints, I'm going to see about ordering some 0.6mm for my Ender 5 Plus for when I get around to it.

I've mostly used eSun ABS. I've also made a few parts out of Polymaker ASA. I've had a good experience with both filaments I've used Hatchbox ABS too, but their ABS is blended with other plastic that isn't ABS, so it can't be bathed in acetone for a smooth surface finish. I've also found it to have a poor surface quality right off the print bed anyway.

I used the 1mm nozzle for the first time yesterday printing half an 80' O-scale rail yard light tower. The finish quality is lousy at 0.5mm layer height, but it printed the ~12"-tall X 1.25"-square part in about 5 hours. I'm sure it'll find use for other big stuff!

I've found the 0.6mm nozzle to be a good mix of finish quality and speed compared to the 0.4mm nozzle. I've actually been using the 0.6mm nozzle to print 1/265-scale miniatures with little loss in detail but about a 25% reduction in print time. And with these printers, time is money due to their power consumption!