Wade Reloaded Extruder for E3D-V6?

I've been wanting to try using a Wade's Reloaded extruder, due to the easy accessibility of the hobbed bolt for cleaning. Unfortunately, all the versions I have seen have either an odd sort of J-head mount that uses two cross-bolts to retain the hotend, or a groove mount that uses a separate slotted plate with a shallow socket in the bottom of the extruder block to keep things in place. Unfortunately, neither one will work well with the E3D-V6, as they place the hotend too high up into the X-carriage opening to get the cooling fan duct clipped onto the fins. Has anyone found - or made - or redesigned - this extruder to work with an E3D-V6? I'd like to see a version with the "dropped" bottom and socket like Nophead's design, with the 3-bolt-and-washer retention, and the socket made shallow for the top flange of the V6 hotend...

If your extruder is working properly you shouldn't need to clean the hobbed bolt. The teeth only get clogged if it slips. If it never slips all you get is a bit of dust that doesn't affect its grip.

If you do need to clean it just undo the nuts M8 nuts and slide it out along with the big gear. You then get far better access for cleaning and you don't need to disturb the spring tension. This is why I use plain gears rather than herring bone. You can't slide the bolt out easily with herring bone, hence why Greg's was born.

I don't think Greg's will fit because the motor sticks out further. I think it will hit the X idler. I removed the need to access the bolt under the motor by using a captive hex screw instead of a nut.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

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nophead
I don't think Greg's will fit because the motor sticks out further.

I've been using the Reloaded extruder for the past 8 months or so. Other than printing it as a mirror image so that the motor is on the left instead of right, I haven't had any problems with it interfering with anything.

I don't understand how that can be as there is only a couple of mm clearance with the motor mounted square. Slanting it must make the extruder longer.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

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nophead
If your extruder is working properly you shouldn't need to clean the hobbed bolt. The teeth only get clogged if it slips. If it never slips all you get is a bit of dust that doesn't affect its grip.

If you do need to clean it just undo the nuts M8 nuts and slide it out along with the big gear. You then get far better access for cleaning and you don't need to disturb the spring tension. This is why I use plain gears rather than herring bone. You can't slide the bolt out easily with herring bone, hence why Greg's was born.

I don't think Greg's will fit because the motor sticks out further. I think it will hit the X idler. I removed the need to access the bolt under the motor by using a captive hex screw instead of a nut.

I have occasionally had my hotend jam due to having the nozzle too close to the bed (especially right after re-leveling it after moving my machine, which I have to do about every other week - long story...), I like the herringbone gears I am using due to the reduced backlash, but you're right, it does make removing the hobbed bolt a nuisance. I generally remove the idler and use a pointed pick I made to clean out the teeth when that happens, which is why i like the "reloaded" design. And remember, I am using a "Sturdy", which has a bit more X clearance.

I don't think backlash matters on the extruder as it only extrudes in one direction.

A wire brush is good for cleaning the bolt quickly.

I printed one of the reloaded extruder bodies. It is longer but as you say you might get away with it on the sturdy as there is some more clearance. I can't see any point to the rotated motor so it could be put back flat to make it shorter.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

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nophead
I don't think backlash matters on the extruder as it only extrudes in one direction.

I am thinking about backlash on retraction, though, and the E3D uses MUCH less retraction than a J-head (about 0.6mm or so).

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nophead
I can't see any point to the rotated motor so it could be put back flat to make it shorter.

How would I go about doing that?

And also, how would I modify the block so that the "socket" is actually lower than the top of the X carriage, like on the "standard" one for the Mendel90, as well as making the socket shallower for the thinner E3D top flange, and adding the holes for the three retention bolts and nut-traps? What lines would I need to change in OpenSCAD and what to, and/or what would I need to add?

The retract is to release the extrusion pressure so I don't think backlash matters there because the filament pushes the gear backwards, acting like an anti-backlash spring. Worst case it would need to retract a bit further. I don't have a problem with oozing so I figure my retract works as well as it could do regardless of backlash.

To add those features you would need to find them all in my version and make cross between the two. It is probably quite a big job, even if you were fluent in OpenScad and hard to see how you can do it without learning the language. My version relies on being in the context of the rest of the Mendel90 files and uses definitions of screws and nuts, etc, from many other files. It isn't a stand alone project like the reloaded one is.

This is the code that adds the hole for the j-head and the screws and nut traps: [github.com]

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

You're right, that would be a problem. I wouldn't even know where to begin - it would be sort of like trying to learn Mandarin Chinese, for me. DRAT!

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nophead
I don't understand how that can be as there is only a couple of mm clearance with the motor mounted square. Slanting it must make the extruder longer.

I remembered to double checked over the weekend and you are correct. It does touch the x idler bracket. I never print something a full 200mm across so I just knocked off 10mm on that side of the bed. It was an acceptable compromise for me at the time to gain some of the features the reloaded extruder offered.