Technologies

Supercharge Your 3D Printer With This Must-Have Upgrade

The new Revo Six hot end from E3D is an easy way to swap in different nozzles on your 3D printer.

Almost all the best 3D Printers can be upgraded in some way with new parts and accessories. One of the most important potential upgrades is to the machine’s hot end assembly, which controls the temperature your printer prints at, and houses the nozzle that helps determine the filament flow.

The Rapidchange Revo Six is a replacement hot end for your 3D printer. It’s from E3D, a company that’s been making parts for 3D printers for years and is one of the gold standards, especially for nozzles and hot ends. This new model has really changed how I use my 3D printers and how I think about the models I’m making.

With the Revo Six, you can swap out the nozzle part of a printer’s hot end easily, which allows for lots of variation in the materials and line thickness for your project. Normally you need to remove the filament from your nozzle, heat the nozzle to loosen the threads, undo it with a socket wrench while it’s hot, then let it cool. After that, you can install your new nozzle, but you need to install it cold, then retighten it once it’s hot.

The $93 Revo Six (£77 GBP) takes out a lot of steps by making the nozzle and other parts of the printing assembly one piece and fully removable by hand. Take out your filament, immediately unscrew the nozzle, and swap it out. This saves a lot of time when replacing nozzles that’ve worn out, but the real magic is swapping different-sized nozzles for different models.

Why you want different nozzle sizes

Revo nozzles in a little mount connected to a Prusa MK3 — James Bricknell/CNET

Often the purpose of your 3D model dictates the settings you’ll use to print it. When printing something delicate with a lot of details, you need a smaller nozzle diameter. With something structural that requires strength, you need a larger diameter. Most 3D printers come with a 0.4mm nozzle as standard, which is fine as a happy medium but won’t always be enough in either direction.

The genius of the Revo Six is the ability to change nozzle sizes almost on the fly. Each nozzle size is color-coded and available from 0.15mm all the way up to 0.8mm and can be replaced in less than a minute. The $89 kit comes with a 0.4mm nozzle but the $139 fully loaded kit has four nozzles ranging from 0.25 to 0.8mm.

I’ve printed a set of brackets for a machine I needed to mount to the wall. The mount is completely hidden and layer lines don’t matter, so I used the 0.8mm nozzle to print extra thick, extra strong parts as quickly as possible (larger layer lines mean faster printing too). As soon as I’d finished the brackets, I immediately swapped the nozzles on the Revo Six to the 0.25mm one and started printing a Flower Dragon with tiny details from Fotis Mint. Having that flexibility in a single machine is fantastic. It saves money on different printers and, more importantly, saves me time, something I have very little of day-to-day.

Upgrade the upgrade with the E3D Obxidian

Two long stemmed 3D printer nozzles — James Bricknell/CNET

Like all good 3D printing accessories, even the Rapidchange Revo V6 can be upgraded. Not only did E3D produce low-cost replacement nozzles for all the different sizes you might want, they made a specialty nozzle for the exotic filaments too.

The Obxidian (pronounced obsidian, like the rock) is a nozzle from E3D that’s specially designed to help combat the wear and tear you get from using abrasive materials infused with other mediums, such as wood or carbon fiber. It’s made from copper, rather than a brass alloy, and has a special coating that helps move the fibers through the nozzle without sticking. It’s also designed to work with the Revo system for quick changing.

Buzz phrases like «the last nozzle you’ll ever need» feel hyperbolic, but at the same time, the longevity of the $59 Obxidian compared with standard nozzles — it can last indefinitely as long as you aren’t using glow-in-the-dark filament at high speed — makes me wonder if it’s even worth buying a standard Revo nozzle again. Actually, the Obxidian comes only in 0.4mm and 0.6mm diameters, so it’s worth having the other nozzle sizes around for other print jobs. Filaments with other materials in them — wood or carbon-infused PLA for example — benefit from a high flow rate, so larger nozzle sizes work better for the Obxidan. For standard prints, though, the Obxidian has everything covered.

An accessory that elevates your entire machine

E3D Revo Six Obxidian Nozzle

$59 at Matterhackers

All the best 3D printing accessories improve your experience in some way, but the Revo Six coupled with an Obxidian nozzle will fundamentally change how you print. Because so many manufacturers have used the E3D V6 hot end in some fashion, the company was able to create Revo Six systems that are easy to replace on a huge variety of 3D printers. From Creality to Prusa, E3D has Revo to help you convert.

I’m convinced that the Rapidchange Revo Six is the next big change to hot ends moving forward, and though I haven’t managed to convert all my 3D printers, if you have just one or two, then investing in a fully loaded kit is well worth it.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for July 5, #1477

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for July 5, No. 1,477.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a pretty tough one. I grew up on a farm, so I know the word, but I didn’t put it together right away, even though the letters are common ones. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

There is are two vowels in today’s Wordle answer.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with the letter B.

Wordle hint No. 4: Down on the farm

Today’s Wordle answer describes a piece of farm equipment.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer refers to a machine for making paper, hay, or cotton into bales.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is BALER.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, July 4, No. 1476 was CURVE.

Recent Wordle answers

June 30, No. 1472: BLINK

July 1, No. 1473: MOLDY

July 2, No. 1474: INCUR

July 3, No. 1475: POPPY

Technologies

Today’s NYT Strands Hints, Answers and Help for July 5, #489

Here are hints and answers for the NYT Strands puzzle for July 5, No. 489.

Looking for the most recent Strands answer? Click here for our daily Strands hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

The theme of today’s NYT Strands puzzle isn’t terribly tough, but at least one of the words is unusual and really, really long to unscramble. If you need hints and answers, read on.

I go into depth about the rules for Strands in this story.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections and Mini Crossword answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: NYT Connections Turns 1: These Are the 5 Toughest Puzzles So Far

Hint for today’s Strands puzzle

Today’s Strands theme is: Every second counts.

If that doesn’t help you, here’s a clue: Does anybody really know what time it is?

Clue words to unlock in-game hints

Your goal is to find hidden words that fit the puzzle’s theme. If you’re stuck, find any words you can. Every time you find three words of four letters or more, Strands will reveal one of the theme words. These are the words I used to get those hints but any words of four or more letters that you find will work:

DIAL, SOLE, MOLE, MOLES, SHAKE, CHEEP, ROLE, HOME, LOCK, MEAT, TAME, TAMES, ROLES, ROON, TRON

Answers for today’s Strands puzzle

These are the answers that tie into the theme. The goal of the puzzle is to find them all, including the spangram, a theme word that reaches from one side of the puzzle to the other. When you have all of them (I originally thought there were always eight but learned that the number can vary), every letter on the board will be used. Here are the nonspangram answers:

CLOCK, WATCH, SUNDIAL, HOURGLASS, CHRONOMETER

Today’s Strands spangram

Today’s Strands spangram is TIMEKEEPERS. To find it, look for the T that’s four letters down on the far left, and wind across.

Technologies

Microsoft Is Eliminating Passwords in August: Here’s What You Need to Do to Prepare

Microsoft Authenticator has already stopped autofilling passwords, but the biggest change comes next month.

In June, Microsoft Authenticator stopped letting users create new passwords. In July, it turned off the autofill password function. And in August, the login app will stop supporting passwords entirely, moving to more secure passkeys, such as a PIN, fingerprint or facial recognition.

Attila Tomaschek, CNET’s software senior writer and digital security expert, says that passkeys are a safer alternative to the risky password habits practiced by 49% of US adults, according to a recent survey by CNET.

«Passwords can be cracked, whereas passkeys need both the public and the locally stored private key to authenticate users, which can help mitigate risks like falling victim to phishing and brute-force or credential-stuffing attacks,» Tomaschek said.

Using the same password for several accounts or adding personal hints can be a convenient way to remember your login. But that puts you at a big risk for scammers, identity theft and fraud. Here’s more on Microsoft’s plan for eliminating passwords and how to make the switch to passkeys before August.

When will Microsoft Authenticator stop supporting passwords?

Microsoft Authenticator houses your passwords and lets you sign into all your Microsoft accounts using a PIN, facial recognition like Windows Hello, or other biometric data like a fingerprint. Authenticator can be used in other ways, such as verifying you’re logging in if you forgot your password, or using two-factor authentication as an extra layer of security for your accounts. In June, the company stopped letting users add passwords to Authenticator, but here’s a timeline of other changes you can expect from Microsoft.

July 2025: You won’t be able to use the autofill password function.
August 2025: You’ll no longer be able to use saved passwords.

If you still want to use passwords instead of passkeys, you can store them in Microsoft Edge. However, CNET experts recommend adopting passkeys during this transition. «Passkeys use public key cryptography to authenticate users, rather than relying on users themselves creating their own (often weak or reused) passwords to access their online accounts,» Tomaschek said.

Why are passkeys a better alternative to passwords?

So what exactly is a passkey? It’s a credential created by the Fast Identity Online Alliance that uses biometric data or a PIN to verify your identity and access your account. Think about using your fingerprint or Face ID to log into your account. That’s generally safer than using a password that is easy to guess or susceptible to a phishing attack.

Passkeys aren’t stored on servers like passwords. Instead, they’re stored only on your personal device. More conveniently, this takes the guesswork out of remembering your passwords and the need for a password manager.

How to set up a passkey in Microsoft Authenticator

Microsoft said in a May 1 blog post that it will automatically detect the best passkey to set up and make that your default sign-in option. «If you have a password and ‘one-time code’ set up on your account, we’ll prompt you to sign in with your one-time code instead of your password. After you’re signed in, you’ll be prompted to enroll a passkey. Then the next time you sign in, you’ll be prompted to sign in with your passkey,» according to the blog post.

To set up a new passkey, open your Authenticator app on your phone. Tap on your account and select «Set up a passkey.» You’ll be prompted to log in with your existing credentials. After you’re logged in, you can set up the passkey.