Charlstruder remix for E3D – wade style extruder for Prusa I3

This is a remix of https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:678089, which is itself a variant of Greg’s wade extruder for Prusa i3.

Why do I like the original Charlstruder ?

I have been using Greg’s wade extruder for over two years and the main issue I had is that the groove mount became lose over time (because of wear of the screws, of the E3D V6 groove, and head crashes…) and greatly affected print quality. The clamp mounting provides a much rigid mount.

Charlstruder is also more compact thus increasing the Z travelling distance.

What changes did I make ?

Following my observations as well as the ones from the comments, here are the changes that I made :

• the filament path hole has been moved from some reason compared to the original Greg’s wade extruder. The filament was then not aligned with the M8 hobbed bolt and was bent. I put it back to its original position
• the clamp mount was not tight enough for a standard E3D V6 all metal. I’ve changed the tolerances and it works great for me. Such tolerances may vary according to your printer. The .stp files are included if you want to tweak them
• added holes for the screws and nuts of the clamp for a more compact look
• added a version which SHOULD fit an E3D V6 having a collet insert. This has not been tested as I don’t have one myself ; any feedback is appreciated
• removed the two small holes of the mounting plate as they were useless for me
• also removed the front hinge as I use a fang cooling fan (I recommend this one :
  https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2175956). Leave me a comment or message if you want me to provide a version with the hinge back

The other files starting with Bird are the original files from Charlstruder. I’ve put them for convenience only.

What do you need ?

Print the version of the extruder you need (3 or 1,75mm, with or without collet insert) and one clamp. You will also need the guidler. The birdnose quick release is optional.

As well as the standards parts for this kind of extruder, you will need for the clamp two M3*25 screws and two M3 nuts (I recommend nylstop).

I also recommend printing this gear : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:97377

Work in progress !

This is still a work in progress. I am working on a version for flexible filament with a shorter free filament path, as well as a totally different version for mounting a Precision Piezo Orion Z probe module.

Please post a Make !