Stop print to change nozzle

[jrdoner]

Hello,

I am very new to 3D printing, and I bought a TAZ 6 printer, and so far have designed and printed about eight (simple) objects. My actual use for this is product prototyping. At the moment I am producing a flat panel with holes in it (for switches, jacks, etc.), and with printed lettering on top to identify the components in the panel. The lettering is small enough so that it appears quite rough when using the 0.5 mm nozzle of the printer. I ordered a 0.25 mm nozzle, and I wish to stop the printing process just as the first lettering layer occurs, so that I can change the nozzle. That way, I can do most of the job at a relatively high rate, then change to a finer nozzle just when needed. I didn't find anything in the tutorials directly addressing this problem. Does anyone have a tactic for doing this.

Thanks in advance for any help.

jrdoner

[dkightley]

I don't think what you're thinking of is going to work.

Whenever you change a nozzle, you need to reset the build plate vertical position to cater for the different length and or position of the nozzle in the extruder head.

What you're wanting to do is only likely to be possible with a dual head machine....where you have different size nozzles in the two extruders and set the printer to swap from printing with one head to the other.

What you can do, however, is to use multiple profiles to change the layer thickness part way through a print. Thinner layers with the same size nozzle will give a better finish.