SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

Re: Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-05-28T14:15:37Z

That the problem i keeps having with the acrylic and plastic parts.
The acrylic cracked on me after less than a month and i went to jigsaw. It work great but eventually wear out on me.

Hopefully this mod will give me a more consistence clamp pressure with only one part that can wear down.
Periodic spring change probably all i need to worry about after the mod.

Re: Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-05-28T13:27:11Z

It's performed perfectly. I've done 7 prints since the mod. All avg. 2 hours. My favorite part of the mod is the easy filament swap-out/installation. And no fear of cracking it. The 'upgrade' was fairly inexpensive. The only odd thing about the filament tensioner was it didn't come with the spring. (Even thou the description said 'Fully Assembled'.) Hopefully they won't jack the price up if people start doing this mod.

Re: Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-05-28T12:55:02Z

Awesome, thank you.

How is it perform compare to the old acrylic one.
I'm guessing reloading should to be an improvement with the spring loaded.
Also the spring eventually need to be replace after a while?

Re: Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-05-28T12:33:31Z

It did not include the spring. That I got from a assorted pack from Home Depot (4.99 for 50 assorted springs).
The new parts came with screws. The only part from the old jigsaw I use was the long screw that held the tensioner to act as a guide for the spring.

Re: Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-05-28T12:10:03Z

Mac,

Is that the same tension spring from the old acrylic extruder?
What parts did you actually get?
I'm guessing that i can use the same hardware that i already have from acrylic one.

Block:
http://store.solidoodle.com/index.php?r … uct_id=149

Arm:
http://store.solidoodle.com/index.php?r … uct_id=152

PEEK:
http://store.solidoodle.com/index.php?r … uct_id=145

Re: Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-05-28T04:10:17Z

I think Mac did a very nice job, see it,
just make a 2mm thick alum. Plate with 4 holes,
Or print one as an adapter, then you can
Mount a SD4 new metal extruder to SD 2 & SD 3
S X-carriage, like Mac's second picture to show.

Re: Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-05-27T13:53:02Z

It is possible to use the SD4 extruder parts on the SD2. Two mods needed to be done for this to work. The bridge piece needs to be extended 2.2mm and a plate needs to be made to mate with the two long bolts under the extruder to the two holes in the stepper.

The plate in the image below was temporary. I've since created and cut out a nicer looking one.

Re: Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-05-23T12:25:34Z

I'm interested, did you have some made already?
If so, picture please.

Oh yea, BTW, I have an SD3.

Re: Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-05-22T02:35:50Z

WHAT MODEL DO YOU HAVE?
I saw that Solidoodle has shipped the SD 4 with a all-new extruder now,
If you check their website, in Spare Parts they have the alum. Extruder.

Acrylic Extruder upgrade to Aluminum

2014-04-22T22:53:02Z

Would there be any interest in a replacement extruder made from aluminum that would replace the acrylic? I noticed a crack in mine and decided to replace with aluminum. It would not include the hardware as you would unbolt/rebolt your existing hardware. Target price would be around $30, but should be the last one you need to replace.