Geoffs Easy Nozzle Cleaner 3D Printer Model

Author: @
License: CC BY
File formats: stl
Download type: zip
Size:56.7KB

The file 'Geoffs Easy Nozzle Cleaner 3D Printer Model' is (stl) file type, size is 56.7KB.

Summary

Cleaning Nozzles
PS always remove the nozzle (very carefully, of course) when it's HOT, otherwise ABS works just like a really strong glue - it's very likely something will break when unscrewing a cold nozzle.

I've tried many ways to clean out a 3D printer Nozzle - this is what I've found works best. . A word of warning - NEVER buy the carbide drill cleaners advertised, they are extremely brittle, and can easily ruin a nozzle if they break off, which I had happen before I changed to HSS cleaners.

Firstly, buy some HSS (High Speed Steel) drills, the same size as each Nozzle you use (usually 0.3mm or 0.4mm) - these are only a few dollars on eBay. The cheaper ones may not be the specified diameter, so check they fit through a clean nozzle first, and put the oversize ones away where they won't be used by mistake.

I found these drills so small they were very hard to handle, so I designed this knurled 3D printed plastic sleeve to make handling.

I alse decided to print my drill sleeves in Orange for 0.3mm & Yellow for 0.4mm - yes - the same as the resistor color code, so I can tell the size very easily. I also color code the cleaned nozzles the same way (using a TextaColor) - it makes finding a working, cleaned out, nozzle a lot easier, rather than digging out a magnifying glass for the very small writing on the nozzle.

To clean the nozzle, first drill out any plastic with a 2mm drill, do it slowly with a battery drill & don't press too hard, you just want to clean out any ABS/PLA plastic, not drill into the metal Nozzle. Then, either by hand or a small drill, clean out the nozzle tip, blow it all clean - voila - you have a perfectly clean Nozzle. PS - it's sometimes a good idea to run an m6 die over the 6mm threads, if they are really gunked up with plastic.

Geoffs-Knurled-Drill-Sleeve-0.4mm.stl 782.6KB