-=( AluhotendV5 )=-

Here's a status update on the Aluhotend v4 and v5

the V4 is currently out of stock on heatsinks and those are in longer in production

so we're moving on to the V5 which will consist of two different versions

The first one that will pop up is the V5A which has thinner fins the and the updated nozzle geometry which the latest few of the V4 had, but will still use the round heater block, somtime just after febuary 15th the V5A will become the V5B with a square heater block with a few improvements , 

- there will be two thermistor holes one for 2mm and one 2.5mm thermistors, the 

- the block itself is square  12mm X 12mm X 22mm

after February we'll be doing much bigger production runs than we have in the past and we're going to be talking to people in various countries about carrying these hotends on consignment or partial consignment

-=( BullDog extruder review )=-

-=( Bulldog extruder - review )=-

This is the new bulldog extruder from ReprapDiscount.

-=( first impressions )=-

It's shiney and very well machined and it looks like the kind of extruder you would expect to find in a high end expensive 3d printer , judging by the last week and a half of trouble free non stop extruding with 3mm it's not going to surprise me to see it find its way into many of the existing printers already out there

-=( stepper motor )=-

The stepper motor is a shorter than usual nema17 requiring only 1 amp for full torque which is what most Pololus run at anyway it also runs warm and not burning hot,  the stepper motor drives a small planetary gearbox (black square thing) and delivers enough torque to push 3mm filament flawlessly.

-=( the business end )=-

The hotend mounting point is designed around the jhead mounting groove and clamps the jhead vertically resulting in a very reliable and rigid hotend, due to the clamping action on the top end, so even hotends like the E3d which doesn't have a jhead compatible groove should work as well,

-=( testing )=-
My testing consisted of:
- extruding 4kg of previously written off 3mm pla (written off due the brittleness and age)
- extruding 1kg of previously written off 3mm abs (written off due bad diameter variance)
- currently on a production machine running 1.75mm pla (stopping occasionally due to diameter of filament dropping below 1mm in diameter)

-=( Getting one )=-

keep and eye on www.Reprapdiscount.com and shortly after www.3dindustriesaustralia.com.au

Bulldog extruder

_DSC0117, a photo by thejollygrimreaper on Flickr.