Hardware
Bowden extruder
Also known as: bowden · extrusor bowden · tubo bowden · ptfe
Short definition
In a bowden system the extruder motor is fixed to the frame and pushes filament to the head through a PTFE tube.
Full definition
Taking the motor's weight off the head lets it move faster with less vibration, allowing high accelerations with less ringing. The drawback is the tube: filament compresses along it like a spring, so retractions have to be much longer (on the order of 4 to 6 mm) and the response when starting and stopping extrusion is less precise. Flexible materials are hard or impossible because they buckle inside the tube instead of advancing. Many machines popular in Mexico, several Enders among them, are bowden.
Related terms
- Direct drive extruderIn a direct drive extruder the motor that pushes the filament is mounted on the print head itself, a few centimetres from the nozzle.
- RetractionRetraction is the movement in which the extruder pulls filament back before a non-printing travel move, so the nozzle does not ooze and leave strings.
- StringingStringing is the fine threads of material left between parts of a print when the nozzle oozes during non-printing travel moves.
Hardware
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