3D printers for carbon fiber: every model with a hardened nozzle

Thirty-one shipping 3D printers in the database can print carbon fiber filament out of the box: each has a hardened steel nozzle, a brass nozzle with a hardened steel tip, or a tungsten carbide nozzle. The cheapest by launch price is the Elegoo Centauri 2 at $299, and the table lists all 31 in price order.

Carbon fiber filament is an ordinary printing plastic (PLA, PETG, nylon or ABS) filled with chopped carbon fibers. Makers name these grades with a CF suffix: Polymaker’s PolyLite PLA-CF is PLA with 8% carbon fiber by weight.

Bambu Lab’s filament guide says brass and stainless steel nozzles are too soft for the fibers and wear out quickly. Prusa Research’s knowledge base calls them “highly abrasive” and says a hardened nozzle is necessary.

The table has 23 printers with a hardened steel nozzle, 7 with a bimetal one (a brass body with a hardened steel tip) and 1 with tungsten carbide, all 0.4 mm. Prices are US launch figures for each printer’s base configuration. The Creality SPARKX i7, FLSUN V2 Max and FLSUN V400 Max have no recorded price and sort last.

Continuous carbon fiber printing lays the fiber down intact through a second nozzle instead of mixing it into the plastic. It is a separate process that this list does not cover.

What 3D printer can print carbon fiber?

Any 3D printer with a hardened nozzle and a hotend hot enough for the base plastic. Thirty-one shipping printers in the database have one, from the $299 Elegoo Centauri 2 to the $3,799 Bambu Lab H2D Pro. Every one reaches at least 300 °C, the top of Bambu Lab’s 260 to 300 °C range for carbon fiber nylon.

Creality makes seven of the 31 and Bambu Lab six. Anycubic, FLSUN and QIDI make four each. Elegoo makes three, Flashforge two and Sovol one. No shipping Prusa printer in the database has a hardened stock nozzle.

Nineteen of the 31 are enclosed, and 12 of those have an actively heated chamber, which matters for nylon and ABS grades (see the next question).

The largest build volume on the list is the Sovol SV08 Max’s 500 × 500 × 500 mm, at $1,299. Next is the FLSUN V400 Max, a delta printer with a round print area of Ø 500 × 550 mm. Both are open frame. Among enclosed printers, the biggest is the QIDI Max4: 390 × 390 × 340 mm with a 65 °C heated chamber, at $1,149.

The Bambu Lab H2D Pro ships with a tungsten carbide nozzle, which Bambu Lab rates at HRA 90 hardness on the Rockwell A scale against 74 for hardened steel. The Bambu Lab printer comparison sets out which Bambu Lab models print carbon fiber as shipped.

Can any 3D printer print carbon fiber filament?

Not without a hardened nozzle. A brass or stainless steel nozzle wears out quickly on the fibers, so Bambu Lab’s filament guide calls for hardened steel. The base plastic’s needs still apply: PLA-CF and PETG-CF print on an open frame, while nylon (PA-CF) and ABS (ABS-CF) grades need an enclosed printer.

The nozzle. The 25 shipping printers left out of the table have brass (13), stainless steel (5) or copper alloy (4) nozzles, or a nozzle material not on record (3). This database records only the nozzle in the box, not replacement nozzles a printer may accept. For fiber-filled filament in general, Bambu Lab’s first choice is a 0.6 mm hardened steel nozzle and its second 0.4 mm; it rules out 0.2 mm because of the clogging risk.

The base plastic. Bambu Lab’s guide lists open-frame or enclosed printers for PLA and PETG and their carbon fiber grades, though it recommends an enclosure for PETG-CF so a cold room does not weaken the bond between layers. For ABS, polycarbonate and nylon and their fiber grades, it lists an enclosed printer to hold back warping and layer separation. The 3D printers for nylon and 3D printers for ABS lists show which printers meet those conditions.

The temperature. Bambu Lab gives 210 to 240 °C for PLA-CF, 240 to 270 °C for PETG-CF and 260 to 300 °C for nylon grades such as PA-CF. Prusa notes that fiber-filled filaments print slightly hotter than the plain plastic.

Multi-material feeders also wear. Bambu Lab warns that abrasive filament such as carbon fiber can grind down the feed tubes inside its AMS filament units over time.

What is the cheapest 3D printer for carbon fiber?

The Elegoo Centauri 2, at a $299 launch price: an open-frame printer with a bimetal nozzle (brass body, hardened steel tip) and a 350 °C hotend. The enclosed Elegoo Centauri Carbon follows at $299.99, with a 320 °C hotend. Among printers whose nozzle is hardened steel throughout, the Anycubic Kobra 4 is cheapest, at $379.

By launch price, the lowest-priced option for each kind of carbon fiber work:

• PLA-CF and PETG-CF on an open frame: Elegoo Centauri 2, $299. Next come the Anycubic Kobra 4 at $379, the Creality Ender-3 V3 and Creality Hi at $389, and the Anycubic Kobra X at $399.
• Nylon and ABS grades in an enclosure: Elegoo Centauri Carbon, $299.99, then the Elegoo Centauri Carbon 2 and QIDI Q2C at $399. All three have bimetal nozzles.
• Actively heated chamber: QIDI Q2, $499, with a 65 °C rating and a bimetal nozzle.
• Enclosed, hardened steel nozzle: Bambu Lab P2S and Creality K2, $549. With a heated chamber as well, the Bambu Lab X2D, $649.
• Large build volume: Anycubic Kobra 3 Max V2, $599: open frame, 420 × 420 × 500 mm.

Street prices move after launch, so a retailer today may charge more or less.

Which open-frame 3D printers have a hardened nozzle?

Twelve shipping open-frame printers in the database do. Nine have a recorded launch price: the Elegoo Centauri 2 ($299), Anycubic Kobra 4 ($379), Creality Ender-3 V3 and Creality Hi ($389), Anycubic Kobra X ($399), FLSUN T1 Max ($549), Anycubic Kobra 3 Max V2 ($599), Flashforge Creator 5 ($799) and Sovol SV08 Max ($1,299).

The other three, the Creality SPARKX i7 and the FLSUN V2 Max and V400 Max, have no price on record.

Bambu Lab’s guide lists open-frame printers for PLA-CF and PETG-CF, but an enclosed printer for nylon and ABS grades.

• Motion system: six are bedslingers (the bed moves front to back): the Kobra 4, Ender-3 V3, Hi, Kobra X, Kobra 3 Max V2 and SPARKX i7. Three are CoreXY (the bed only moves down): the Centauri 2, Flashforge Creator 5 and SV08 Max. Three are deltas: the FLSUN T1 Max, V2 Max and V400 Max.
• Hotend: the Centauri 2, Kobra 3 Max V2, V2 Max and V400 Max reach 350 °C. The Creator 5 reaches 320 °C and the other seven 300 °C.
• Nozzles: the Creator 5 is the only printer with more than one: four docked toolheads, all with hardened steel nozzles.