Best Nozzles for MK3S?  

RE: Best Nozzles for MK3S?

Don't buy the cheap nozzles. They're badly machined and often out of spec. If you must buy cheap nozzles, TriangleLab on AliExpress are decent. If you want to print abrasives like glow-in-the-dark or carbon fiber, definitely get a hardened steel nozzle. E3D has the Nozzle-X series and P3-D has their Hercules line. Both are coated, so will help keep filament off the nozzle and are ideal paired with a silicone sock. If you don't need abrasives, E3D has nickel-plated copper nozzles and P3-D has the Apollo series, again both coated. I have a P3-D 1mm nozzle and am quite happy with it. E3D only goes up to 0.8mm.

I'd avoid the "fun pack" bundles as some of the sizes are don't gain you much. If you want a variety, buy small (0.25mm is good) and large (0.6 or 0.8mm are good) in addition to your 0.4mm.

I've got a lot of info on nozzles here that you might find useful.

RE: Best Nozzles for MK3S?

@bobstro

Thanks a ton!

RE: Best Nozzles for MK3S?

@printyboi

I use the E3D X and the nickel plated copper nozzles (0.25 and 0.4mm) for all applications without any problems. Both have proven their worth when printing CarbonPEEK and other abrasive materials.

RE: Best Nozzles for MK3S?

Get yourself a 0.6 mm nozzle (I'm using E3d Nickel plated copper). I should have got one of these ages ago.

You will find yourself using the whole printer bed regularly for large prints which will easily knock a 1/3 off the total printing time compared to a 0.4 mm nozzle fast print.

Bridging also seems to be better and I find I have less need for supports.

To be honest, once you get different sized nozzles, you will find that you swap them depending what you are going to print, pieces like the LACK enclosure are fine with a 0.6 mm nozzle (Possibly bigger), but when you get down to tiny functional parts or where accuracy is really needed (Extruder parts, threaded parts etc), then 0.25 mm is great with 0.4 mm covering the parts where detail but precision can be a little more forgiving.

A larger nozzle will also prolong the life of your printer as it will not have to move back and forth so much for the same sized part as a smaller nozzle may have to.

Bobstro knows more about bigger nozzles than me (>0.6 mm), my advice is for anybody else reading this thread who is considering getting different nozzles.

RE: Best Nozzles for MK3S?

I was wanting to print abrasives (carbon fiber filled, glow-in-the-dark, metal filled, etc) and started with a microswiss coated nozzle. Wore off the nickel coating on the tip after printing a set of CF parts for my extruder (I wanted to print two parts, but decided to print all of them so the surface finish would be consistent). Since then I finally bit the bullet and ordered expensive Tungsten Carbide nozzles. ($69CAD each... oof...) I have so far not seen any wear on these nozzles. Hopefully they will outlast the printer if I take care of them.

The advantages of TC that I can think of:

• Extreme hardness, virtually nothing should be able to scratch them (unless printing diamond filled filament...).
• Similar thermal conductivity to brass so don't need to adjust the print temperature like one does for hardened steel.
• I haven't had PLA or PETG stick to them. My daily driver 0.4mm nozzle looks as clean as it did when I first got it.

The disadvantages of TC that I can think of:

• Cost. These are certainly a premium item.
• I think TC is brittle. I haven't dropped mine (or hit them with a hammer) to test this though.

RE: Best Nozzles for MK3S?

@sembazuru

This nozzle is a very good choice and almost indestructible. I am currently considering whether I should also test them, but 65Euro + shipping = 75Euro....?

RE: Best Nozzles for MK3S?

Pity I can't get these in the UK, by the time you add P&P and get stung for additional tax plus a tax collection fee! (Yes they even charge us for collecting any tax due on imports!), the costs of these come in at more than the actual nozzles!.

RE: Best Nozzles for MK3S?

I grabbed a E3D X .6mm. 

Going to find myself some new models to test this bad boy out over the weekend.

RE: Best Nozzles for MK3S?

@bobstro

Thanks so much for this very useful knowledge & advice. Much appreciated.