OOPS, ordered 3mm filament Paid too much attention to a nice price and didn't

3D Printing
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OOPS, ordered 3mm filament

Paid too much attention to a nice price and didn’t realize it was 3mm (instead of 1.75) until it arrived.

I have an Anet 8 Prusa i3 with an MK8 extruder. Can I (for example) just put in a different hot end and use 3mm?

I believe the feed gear will already handle 1.75mm and 3mm.

I know I can always try and sell the 3mm filament, but if there’s an affordable way to use both, that would appeal to me.

I have no fear of, or problems with swapping out parts.

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Well, 3mm through a large nozzle should give you fast chunky prints and if you have 2 extruders you could do that for just the infill.

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If you can print the 3mm filament with you current nozzle, you may experience more extrusion resistance. You will of course need to set the filament diameter in the slicer.

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Did a little more research… I’d have to swap out the throat and the nozzle. And the “tension arm” on the feed assembly is only drilled out to accept 1.75mm, so that would have to be changed as well. Might be smarter to just buy a 3mm extruder for $40, use it as needed, but get parts to make it a second 1.75mm for dual extruding on a regular basis. Need to think it through.

Thanks for the input!

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@allanGEE or trade it to a maker space or local 3D printer enthusiast.