The Mission Printhead Mk 2

After dozens of test prints, I have a good understanding of what's lacking in the MK 1 printhead, but first the good points. The first iteration had the minimum requirements to produce a decent print. It had a sturdy mount for the clone Titan and E3D V6 hotend. It also has a 50mm cooling fan blowing into a cone that directed it just blow the nozzle tip, although after swapping to a clone Volcano heatblock which puts the nozzle 8.5mm lower, I had to use some gaffer tape to redirect the airflow down a little. Will have to figure out new dimensions to suit the longer dimensions.

The Mission printhead Mk 1

Starting with Mk2, I wanted to address the part cooling issue and also add a mount for an original Antclabs BL Touch bed leveling sensor that just arrived in the post. I chose a mechanical sensor instead of a filed proximity type because up until now I haven't finalised what print bed material will go into the future production version of the Mission 3D printer yet. In my opinion a high quality mechanical sensor is the best choice for glass or any of the new print surfaces now on the market.

I also wanted to experiment and hopefully develop a tool-less hot-swappable printhead module for maximum convenience going from a 0.4mm nozzle to a 0.8mm one for example. With the low cost of clone parts, it was feasible to swap extruder, hotend, bed leveller and fan all in one. However, after awhile i realised the idea would be too costly and wasteful. Plus I found that the overall weight of everything was a mit much for even very strong neodynium magnets. Perhaps a magnetic system would work better if it was a lightweight Bowden system, maybe later... I also felt it was necessary to tidy up the whole printhead appearance for a better look.

So at the end of Mk2 development, the magnets are out but the part cooling fan setup and BL touch mount is looking good! On to version 3!

If you look at this ghosted image and squint you can kind of see how the cool air from the fan travels to the nozzle area via the hollow body of the 3D printed part

The first test prints confirmed very quickly that even very strong magnets wouldn't work here. Due to the weight of a direct extruder/hotend setup, fan, BL touch etc.