Copper hot end

Hey!
I've been following the Tantillus ever since the first post and I'm thrilled its finally released!

I noticed that there are plans for a copper hot end, and I wanted to mention that I've designed a hot end that is j-head compatible, but easier to machine (two ops on a CNC mill) and better looking than a J-head (no raw bar stock). I've made the prototypes out of solid copper and I've been slowly working on testing them.

Will anyone associated with the project be at the Maker Faire tomorrow? Shoot me an e-mail if so - tlalexander at and you know the rest.

-Taylor

Message sent.

---

FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

Could the hot end be made from a bloc of aluminium instead of copper?

Yvan256 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Could the hot end be made from a bloc of aluminium
> instead of copper?

Yes but through independent testing a few of us that like to print at high speeds have noticed how well copper transfers the heat to the filament over all other metals tested including aluminium.

---

FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

I've read about aluminium, copper and brass. Is copper also better than brass?

If the heat could be transferred as well as copper/brass, wouldn't an aluminium hot end be better for faster printing since it's nearly three times lighter? (according to the J-Heads wiki)

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/12/2012 03:46PM by Yvan256.

Yvan256 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've read about aluminium, copper and brass. Is
> copper also better than brass?
>
> If the heat could be transferred as well as
> copper/brass, wouldn't an aluminium hot end be
> better for faster printing since it's nearly three
> times lighter? (according to the J-Heads wiki)


Mathematically the brass and copper hotends should be the same but there must be something we are missing because empirically we have found copper to print faster. It may have to do with the coefficient of friction of the metals. Copper has a lower coefficient of friction than brass or aluminium when against steel [www.carbidedepot.com] ( I could not find a chart tested against PLA ).

Also my first copper hotends have an aluminium heater block and copper barrel and nozzle. It may be that the aluminium trasfered its heat to the copper really well and the copper was slipperier than the brass one. I am about to test one of Taylors copper hotends so I will see if the all copper hotend works like the copper/aluminium one.

The other possible difference may be a chemical reaction between the copper and PLA. I have noticed the copper gets a shiny hard glaze over it after having the PLA on it for even just a few minutes. Maybe this glazing is lowering the friction even further.

---

FFF Settings Calculator	Gcode post processors	Geometric Object Deposition Tool Blog
Tantillus.org	Mini Printable Lathe	How NOT to install a Pololu driver

Brass is a poor conductor compared to aluminium and copper quite a lot is better.

I think I have read that copper reacts with PLA.

I don't know whether slipperiness comes into it because the PLA should be liquid there allowing the flow rate at the wall to be almost zero but still moving in the middle. The insulator needs to be slippery as the PLA is solid / rubbery there.

---

[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]