Martin Bondéus, CEO and Founder of Bondtech, the Swedish manufacturer of world-leading filament feeders, believes that the company’s Core Heating Technology (CHT) are “the best value for money upgrades that will impact your 3D printing.”
Speaking to 3D Printing Industry, he explained how the company’s CHT nozzle range is tapping into a growing trend within the FDM 3D printer market, offering notable benefits for consumer and industrial-level users alike.
Bondéus also elaborated on how the Bondtech CHT ® product range overcomes key challenges faced by 3D print farms and high-frequency users and outlined his belief that “in the future, all nozzles will be CHT.”
CHT nozzles boost 3D printing speeds
Bondéus suggests that CHT nozzles are capitalizing on a significant trend in the FDM 3D printer market. Increasingly, both consumer and industrial FDM 3D printer manufacturers are striving to produce innovative systems that can cater to demands for accelerated 3D printing speeds.
“CHT nozzles enable users to elevate their 3D printer’s speed limit,” Bondéus elucidates. “It leads to an increased volumetric flow which is usually a speed bump in achieving quicker printing. As the speed increases, the need to melt the filament intensifies.”
The aforementioned hurdle is overcome by CHT through a distinctive and patented material inlet design. It divides the filament into three streams within the nozzle, which causes the material to be melted from inside out. Bondéus provides further explanation, “This method ensures maximum surface contact between the material and metal, thereby effectively transferring the heat into the plastic. Consequently, the material melts faster which allows for increased volumetric flow and faster 3D print speeds.”
Supporting the aforementioned, Bondtech’s recent white paper illustrates that CHT nozzles can enhance average 3D printing speeds by more than 30%. The research discovered that the company’s proprietary CHT design largely contributes to escalating these speeds.
“In the study, we identified that the three main things affecting the melt flow are the nozzle’s bore diameter, temperature, and inlet geometry,” explained Bondéus. “The CHT inlet geometry increased the melt flow by 63%, whereas the impact from increasing the nozzle temperature was 7% per each additional 20°C, and 6% for each 0.4mm of increased nozzle diameter.”
Bondtech’s CHT technology offers notable value for 3D print farms, for whom high productivity is key.
According to the company’s CEO, the nozzles may enable 1-hour and 26-minute time savings on 3D print cycles that normally take 6 hours. Factoring in the nozzle’s price and a $15 hourly rate for workers, the CHT nozzle has already paid for itself after the first 3D print job.
CHT nozzles also optimize layer adhesion, significantly improving the strength of the final part. This is made possible by the unique inlet geometry, which heats the filament more homogeneously than conventional nozzles and from its core. This is essential for industrial-scale customers producing functional, end-user parts that require optimal properties.
Bondtech CHT BiMetal™ Nozzle in action. Video via Bondtech.
Bondtech’s CHT product lineup
Bondtech CHT ® nozzles are available in standard Nickel Coated Brass and Nickel Coated BiMetal versions, which cater to desktop, professional, and industrial-scale 3D printers. Compatible with both 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm hotends, these nozzles are available in the popular RepRap, MK8, Volcano, and Spider standards.
The Nickel coating of both models provides key protection against corrosion, erosion, and abrasion. This also provides a lower coefficient of friction, allowing material to be fed more freely into the nozzle.
The standard range of brass-coated nozzles is optimized for users 3D printing with non-abrasive filaments such as PLA, ABS, and PETG. Bondtech’s BiMetal CHT nozzles, on the other hand, are well suited to more costly, abrasive materials that have been infused with additives, such as carbon fiber, to enhance their properties.
Bondtech CHT BiMetal™ nozzle. Photo via Bondtech.
Particularly, Bondtech CHT BiMetal™ nozzles demonstrate greater efficiency than other hardened steel competitiors. In comparison to other nozzle varieties utilizing hard crystal tips, the Bondtech products stand out due to their extended lifespan and less abrassion at the input. Consequently, this leads to intensified productivity and less frequent nozzle replacements, which reflects in cost savings for the user.
Bondéus pointed out, “Brass nozzles sustain rapid wear and tear from abrasive filaments. With the BiMetal nozzles we produce, clients can process higher-end materials for much longer durations, leading to a boost in productivity.”
The nozzles are available for individual sales, and also in bundles at reduced rates. The extensive lineup enables compatibility with diverse 3D printing arrangements, catering to both amateurs and industry professionals wanting quality options for high-speed extrusion.
Bondtech CHT RepRap standard BiMetal™ nozzles. Image via Bondtech.
Bondtech’s growth roadmap
Bondéus sees an exciting future ahead for Bondtech CHT ® technology, which is attracting notable demand from within the 3D printing industry.
This demand is being driven by a trend towards faster 3D printing speeds, something which the company wants to further capitalize on in the future. “We are working to comply with the demand of customers wanting to 3D print faster. So we are looking at longer nozzles for longer hotends,” stated Bondéus.
As part of this goal to reach more customers, Bondtech has licensed its CHT technology to UK-based 3D printer hotend manufacturer E3D, which is incorporating the novel inlet geometry into its high-flow nozzles.
Looking to the future, Bondéus plans to expand the CHT product lineup to meet new nozzle standards and geometries, increasing compatibility with more 3D printers. “This is a key area of expansion for our CHT products,” stated Bondéus. “As new standards come up, we plan to develop new products to meet those standards.”
To facilitate the growing filament extruder and nozzle product portfolio, Bondtech is looking to scale up its production capacity. This will see the company open a new facility and grow its team.
“We want to create possibilities for future expansion both in people and in technology,” added Bondéus. “We are always looking for ways to make 3D printers better and easier to use. There is a lot of innovation and development in the future for us.”