Brass vs Hardened Steel vs Ruby Nozzles
Quick comparison
| Property | Brass | Hardened Steel | Ruby |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Low ($) | Medium ($$) | High ($$$$) |
| Thermal conductivity | Excellent | Lower than brass | Lower |
| Wear with PLA / PETG | Minimal | None | None |
| Wear with matte PLA | Wears within 100+ hrs | Minimal | None |
| Wear with composites (CF, GF, metal-fill) | Hours | Months | Years |
| Lifespan, abrasive use | 1 to 4 spools | 20 to 50 spools | Hundreds of spools |
When brass is fine
- Standard PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA
- Silk PLA
- TPU
- Most beginner use cases
- Low-volume printing of any non-abrasive material
When to upgrade to hardened steel
- Daily matte PLA printing
- Wood-fill, marble-fill or specialty PLA composites
- PA-CF, PETG-CF, ASA-CF (carbon fibre filled)
- Glow PLA and UV PLA at high volume (slight abrasiveness)
- Metal-fill PLA (mandatory)
When ruby is worth the cost
- Production environments with constant composite printing
- Long-term use where nozzle changes interrupt workflow
- Specialty filaments where a brass or steel nozzle wears in days
- When the cost of nozzle changes outweighs the ruby premium
Hardness types in stock
- Brass, every common size
- Hardened steel, 0.4 and 0.6 mm in stock; other sizes available
- Panda Juicer high-flow brass and hardened, for high-speed printing
- Ruby tipped nozzles exist for the most extreme abrasive workloads but are not currently part of the Siddament range
Sydney 24/7 vending
The 24/7 parts vending machine at the Siddament warehouse stocks the most common 3D printer spares: nozzles, hotends, build sheets, adhesion products and printer-brand specific spares. Available any time, day or night.