Well I managed to complete the elements of the 3mm PLA Filament hot end and the pictures of its manufacture are below for your interest, especially if your not conscious of engineering methods.
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- diagram of 3mm pla nozzle with ‘new’ heating chamber
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- 6mm O/D tubing trial fitting
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- Height gauge and granite surface plate allows accuracy
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- Markings for the holes to be drilled
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- Centre punch accuracy with this simple but clever tool
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- Drilling through the air fitting to allow the 6mm dia tubing through
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- Main elements of the new 3mm PLA hot end with enhanced nozzle design
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- They will fit alongside each other but the nozzle lengths are the issue
The main difference in the 3mm PLA fittings is the length of the nozzle, its heating chamber which matches the heating block and the tubing finishes higher up the nozzle. This is as yet untried and I have more thoughts for improvement. Like all developmental projects I have borrowed ideas from web search, Richard Sum and others as well as my own thoughts so nothing is 'original' but that's alright because it builds on success.
Because the nozzle is longer I cannot have the dual system I considered at the start, but I never really wanted to have a dual system for different diameter filaments, rather I wanted different colours so I will put two together and the will be 1.75mm PLA. I have ordered another fan assembly and will have the 3mm PLA hot end as a separate system. As the nozzles will then be the same length it should work.
I will be making a new style nozzle, with its hearing chamber, for the 1.75mm PLA as well and will fit the dual system (both being for 1.75mm PLA) with one standard nozzle and one of the new design, to see how they operate initially and over time. I still intend to develop a system where I can change nozzles based on different diameter through holes i.e. the 0.4mm size to see how the affects print quality but it is easy to focus on the mechanics, when the software may be more important....but I am not a SOFTWARE engineer (sorry 
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I am about 80% there now, with the assembly of the second stepper motor and extruder system to complete. I will then add plugs to the wiring so any hot end can be removed easily, not just for filament size changes but also to allow the change between milling/routing and printing to be easier and neater to use.
The only measure of success will be the quality and enhancements in printing but I still have to remind myself that I had a good printing SumPod before I started all this 'tinkering' and in fact none of what I am doing needs to be done! Sobering thought I suppose.
Still, if you didn't experiment the printer wouldn't be here would it. I may just hit on something that does it even better than it does now..............and I am enjoying myself! Just remember if you want a printer you do not need to follow this path at all!
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