I’m printing 48th scale detail parts and I’d like them to be as sharp as possible. Are the differences between .2 and .4 very noticeable?
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There are comparative photo`s in the online store , from a personal pov ive yet to try
I bought a .2 a while back but I keep having problems with it clogging. There’s a good chance that was user error though. The pictures Neiljt is talking about are pretty impressive.
OR it’s a material error. Some PLA is “super nice” on 0.4 but “absolute garbage” on 0.2. When I was doing keychains for my karate club i wanted to use the cheap white pla I got instead of nice one from bambu and it was horrible to work with on 0.2. Also Bambu’s 0.2 is stainless steel so it’s not abbrasive-resistant (also, most abbrasive-containing filaments are not recommended on anything smaller than 0.4 and I’ve had one wood filament that shouldn’t be ran on anything lower than 0.6)
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I bet you’re correct. I used to use a lot of Kingroon and it’s one the cheapest filaments on the market. I have the Revo hotends on now so I’m sure I’ll try a .2 again in the future and I’ll make sure to use the good stuff.
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I’ve been very intrigued with the notion of getting 0.2 nozzle even though I don’t have a true need. I’d like to hear thoughts on these to comments.
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For the P1, nozzle replacement is still a chore.
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It seems that one pays a huge sacrifice in print speed when using a smaller nozzle.
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I’ve got a well established repertoire of filament supplies that tune well with 0.4. I’d like to hear more opinions on how challenging it is to get filaments, particularly bargain filaments, to tune properly. This comment by @PrinterMcgee is exactly what I fear will be my experience and I’m not sure I have the appetite for this kind of hassle.
- Is it really worth it? What’s the use case? Note that I pursue parts for fitment, accuracy and strength. Does a 0.2 nozzle deliver on any of these goals or is it just prettier parts? I can attest to the fact that I get better fitment results with finer layer heights and one would hope that a finer nozzle would only enhance this, but is the return on effort worth it?
Feedback would on this topic would be very welcome.
For me it was to try and print these badges on a much smaller scale and keep some of the details. These pictured are around 6" x 6" and they are ok but when you shrink them down to 2" x 2" or smaller you lose almost everything. I think the nozzle replacement is fairly easy on the P1, it’s two screws and unplugging two wires. Unfortunately I can’t really answer any of the other questions because I wasn’t able to finish one print with it. I think I cleared three clogs out and then I got frustrated and put the .4 back on.
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Thanks for weighing in. So in the examples you posted, Are these the 2x2" or 6x6" and which one was the 0.2 vs 0.4?
They are both 6" X 6" and done with a .4 nozzle. I guess that wasn’t a good example but I don’t have anything done with the .2 because it never finished a print. When I get home tomorrow I can print a sample of a smaller badge using the .4 and .2 Revo nozzles. That should be a good comparison.
I’ve used 0.2mm on both the A1 and X1 with great results but damn it takes so long. As far as quality, I compare it to a mechanical pencil lead size, you get finer details sure but sometimes a line is just a line (or curve).
It’s always worth having that nozzle for detail work but I still mainly use .4 and spend time in prepping my setup. Calibrated good quality material and a maintained machine will always give you a headstart, from there you dial in the print profile to suit. I find this is more rewarding.
0.2 nozzle isn’t worth it if you print functional items that can be printed with enough accuracy on 0.4. I think I only once printed replacement gear on 0.2 and that’s mostly because I forgot I had 0.2 configured from printing keychain which needed 0.2 details.
If you’re printing figurines or items which need detail, 0.2 gives noticeable difference in results. For example my very first published model:
First I printed with 0.4 and the level of detail is “ok” but you can see holes in the structure where there are sharp curves that are hard to fill otherwise. On 0.2 (2nd profile) the curves are crisp and there are no holes made by lack of the ability to fill the details. The obvious downside: print time on 0.2 is like 3-4x the print time on 0.4 
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Thanks everyone for responding. Looks like I’m going to give it a try!
I have a Bambu a1 mini and I print 1/48 miniatures for dioramas.
The quality of parts for the .2 nozzle is slightly better than the default .4 nozzle.
It’s better, but not much, imho
I mainly print men, trucks and ground equipment for model airplanes.
Some of the stl models found online, print great and many print poorly. It’s a matter of trying them all.
Jerry
Noticeable, but takes 2*2 times as long. The probability of nozzle clogging will significant increase.