So, needing a temporary fix till my hotend is made, I ordered a cheap E3D knockoff from China for $9. http://www.ebay.com/itm/252187596838 While the thermal properties seem to be okay (with no authentic item to compare to) there was no cleanup done at all on the machining so there are burs on the inside. I marked it as a non-authorized replica and mentioned the burs in my feedback. It is hard to submit feedback on eBay without buying the item you wish to give feedback on. E3D sells individual nozzles for $8-10 if my math is right. A proper nozzle is a must! I wonder if the threads and measurements match so that I could upgrade the knockoff with an authentic nozzle. For now, I have to wait till my jewelers drill bits are in to clear the nozzles if I am to use the knockoff.
Most of the value in my purchase was the heat sink. I knew that when I ordered it.
Does this come with ALL those heatbreaks?
No. Just the one you select. I selected 1.75 bowden. You evidently put feed the bowden tube up against the heat break.
The knockoff made it obvious to me that when I make my own hotend I will have to be extremely careful to do the insides of the nozzle right. Honestly, i am a little worried because if professional knockoff artists can’t do it I wonder if I can. This also bring up the idea of buying just nozzles and or heat breaks when making your own hotends and then making the parts needing less precision yourself or ordering them as bits from knockoffs or using miscellanious hardware store bits.
The heatbreak as well as the nozzle are the key elements in the E3D design. The authentic design also has a PTFE tubing for 1.75 filament for both the direct and Bowden styles. The workmanship is paramount to it working properly.
Getting the quality and consistency is what adds to the cost. The job shops that make these look alike parts aren’t taking into account the application and probably don’t realize (or even care) about the subtle differences that can make or break performance and/or longevity. It’s not a question of the job shop being able to do it right in as much as it is taking the time to do it right and realizing how the finish and fit impact the final product.
@dstevens_lv also, China is a country that goes by the rule “Buyer beware”.
As always - “penny wise, pound foolish”.
Especially with hot ends.
I gave up on making hotends a couple years ago. It’s just not worth it when people like e3D do it so damn well.
@NathanielStenzel You can get quality parts made in China though you typically don’t find them from unknown vendors on ebay. A $70 hot end for $9 is too good to be true even from China. When I looked at having some made from a known, vetted source over there it was only about 25% more to buy the real deal. Unless it’s electronics in small batch I haven’t found it worth it. Plus E3D stands behind the product, the lead times are nearly immediate and the language barrier isn’t quite as difficult… 
Well, the $9 gamble was worth the amusement and knowledge I gained. Their work sucks, but I did not figure the chances of getting a quality hotend were good. My challenge to myself is to at least match their crappy quality when making my own hotend despite my crappy skills. (Laughs at himself)
Those parts do look a bit rough, and the heat break upper thread looks different than genuine. So it’s questionable the barrel and and hear breaks will interchange with genuine. Dunno about the other parts. I try not to support the Chinese manufactured 3dp parts as they rarely contribute back to the community and poorly made parts give a bad name to those who designed them.
I looked through my emails and it said this was $29 instead of $9. Hmmm…