Is the E3D V6 still a worthwhile upgrade?

I should receive my new R1 ABS+PLA on Tuesday and have been watching YouTube videos galore on upgrades and obviously everyone talks about upgrading to the E3D all metal hot end, but I know these new Robos have an all metal hot end from the factory. Is this still a worthwhile upgrade or does the stock hot end work well enough?

 

I have no problem with the hexagon hot end. Works just fine.

Only reason I'd go to an e3dv6 is if I wanted to print with flexible materials a lot

 

I'm a relatively new 3D printer user and I just made the switch from the hexagon to the V6. It took me a while because I can only work on the job at night time after all my after work "to-do's" are done. I will say it was a pain in the butt with doing the install which included drilling out the extruder for the bowden tube and what seemed like a boatload of wiring and what not.

would I do it again? absolutely not. my hexagon head was just fine but I did want to start playing with some Ninjaflex material so that's why I decided to take the plunge. just make sure you also order the stud thermister from printedsolid.com so you don't have to screw around with modifying your firmware.

I probably would have finished sooner but I'm a major perfectionist so I took my time with making sure everything was done right the first time.

 

As you see, some may state the old "if it isn't broke don't fix it", but in my experiences, I've found the all-metal to be probably one of the best investments in the long run. Flexibility in material heating temperature is just one thing. Save up for a rainy day and upgrade when all breaks loose.

 

Thanks for the feedback. I was able to print with NinjaFlex on my hexagon with just doing the ink tube mod. Now the biggest issue is figuring out how to print somewhat complex objects that need support material with NF since it's terrible for that.

 

The hexagon that comes stock on the R1 is all metal.