Oh, yeah, that was a great thread. I even commented on it: Derp. Thanks for the info.

I want to finish up a printer I started a while back (ORD-Bot, Azteeg X3) and got stuck on getting the extruder working. I think the E3Ds look pretty nice, so I am going to get a couple of those and then probably print wade extruders. (or maybe Bondtech?)

The big question is, should I go 3mm or 1.75mm? This won't be a bowden setup, so I know that's one reason that people use 1.75.

I already have a couple of good working printers, one using 1.75mm (Kossel Pro) and one using 3mm (TAZ 5), so I have a good collection of both sizes filament around. But it would be nice to not have to buy double the filament.

I had thought the original reason for the migration to 1.75 was that the 3mm filaments were from pre-existing tech and not sized reliably, and 1.75 was the bright new standard future for FFF. But the TAZ is still using 3mm and people seem to be settling on a 2.85mm standard there. Thus the dilemma.

Does anyone have insight into where the industry is going with filament sizes?

I have an original and early Kickstarter Kossel Pro that has some parts that have since been improved in the latest commercial version. Does MatterHackers sell any of these parts separately so that I could bring my printer up to snuff? The main ones I know about are the power supply fan and the newer all-metal hotend.

@unlimitedbacon thanks for the info. I had thought as much, and was also under the impression that newer printers were all moving to 1.75. My Kossel Pro uses it, for example, as well as the little MOD-t. So now I am all stocked up on 1.75mm filament.

But two of the highest rated printers that you sell, the Taz5 and the Ultimakers both use 3mm. Do you know why they went with this form? Just carry over from the old days?

And, if I were to buy a Taz5, would it be worth converting it to 1.75mm? Its hexagon all-metal hotend seems pretty nice; how does it compare to the E3D for example?