TL;DR: 10 years of collaboration, the story behind E3D x Prusa
We want to help people print better. That’s always been our simple and humble aim. And a huge part of being able to achieve that goal comes from working closely with leading printer manufacturers. Being recognised as an upgrade provider of choice by OEMs is a huge honour for us and a testament to our extrusion engineering prowess. 2026 marks 10 years(!) since the first step in our journey with Prusa so it’s a great time to pause and remember how far we’ve come, together. 
2016: MK2 and MK3 - where it started
Cast your minds back to the launch of the Prusa i3 MK2. The success of this printer swiftly propelled Prusa to become the biggest 3D printer manufacturer to adopt the OG E3D V6 HotEnd as standard.
Next came the MK3 range, still incorporating the V6 HotEnd, with a significant evolution in the design, focusing not just on print quality but on reliability, ease-of-use, and automation.
2018: A story of collaboration
After working together closely for a couple of years, we'd nurtured a strong relationship with Prusa and our joint customer base and were delighted when they approached us to co-develop a nozzle for their new toolhead that would go on to be called the mighty “Nextruder” when it launched 4 years later.
At E3D, we take immense pride in providing world-class solutions for every project we undertake. This Nozzle was destined for Prusa's next generation of printers, demanding nothing less than perfection. When the project kicked off the main aim was to mechanically join the existing V6 Nozzle with a tube that would act as the heatbreak. The joint would prevent users from having to hot tighten nozzles into the blocks when installing them into the machines - a significant quality of life improvement over the V6 setup in the MK3. With the new assembly being made up of a brass nozzle and a tube it quickly gained a working title of the 'nube' - original we know 😉.
As the project progressed, our engineers continued to collaborate closely with Prusa's R&D team to fine-tune the Nozzle's design, ensuring it aligned with their exact requirements. In the early days we experimented with different ways to attach the parts together; building prototypes, testing them, reviewing our findings and refining the design.
An early prototype with the tube brazed into the nozzles
Eventually we arrived at the ‘snube’ design that you see today. Yes, you got it, when the copper sleeve was added to the assembly to improve thermal transfer into the heatsink the nube evolved into a snube…
Automated Optical Measuring of the Prusa Nozzles
Quality is key
As we did for Revo, we designed and built bespoke machinery to assemble these nozzles. Our custom machines are equipped with in-process monitoring to perform quality control on each part as it's being manufactured, guaranteeing that you receive a great component every time.
2022: Nextruder is go!
The Nextruder nozzles that we proudly helped co-design were fitted into Prusa’s latest machines the MK4 and the XL. The final design was built upon our 10 years+ of experience in manufacturing market-leading nozzles and there were some visual similarities between the Prusa nozzle and our V6, Volcano and Revo ranges.
Final version of Prusa MK4 & XL Brass Nozzles
V6 to Nextruder Adaptor
We didn’t want those with an existing arsenal of V6 nozzles to be left adrift so we came up with a solution that meant they could install any V6 nozzle variant on a Prusa MK4 or XL - the Prusa Nozzle V6 Adaptor. All that was needed to prevent any leaks was a good hot-tighten of both the nozzle and adaptor.
Final version of Prusa MK4 & XL V6 Nozzle Adaptor
Prusa XL with 5 Nextruder Nozzles
2022 continued… Game-Changing Coatings
By 2022 we’d finished cooking up ObXidian® – our unique new E3DLC™ coating that delivered orders-of-magnitude higher durability for abrasive filaments like carbon and glass fiber filled materials compared to the standard brass nozzles. The built-in non-stick properties of this one-of-a-kind coating also reduced plastic build-up, improving surface finish and reducing maintenance. We were delighted when Prusa jumped at the chance to give their users the option to upgrade their machines from brass to the mighty ObXidian!
ObXidian gave users a ‘taste of the rainbow’ with its iridescent coating
2024: Scream if you want to go faster
Prusa’s machines were solid and our ObXidian coated nozzles were helping users print with more gnarly filaments with outstanding results. Seems like the experience of 3D printing was as good as it could be right? Maybe for some aftermarket upgrade companies, but not E3D. Tinkering is in our nature so we couldn’t just sit back and let that be the end of the story. Something new was brewing, and it was going to rapidly change the game for Prusa’s Nextruder nozzles.
Rather than sticking to a single linear bore inside our nozzles, we developed a carefully optimised 4 channel High Flow internal melt geometry. But why 4 channels we hear you ask? In order to increase the maximum flow rate you need to improve your nozzle’s heat transfer. And to do that you need to increase the surface area in contact with the molten filament. In a nutshell – 4 channels are better than 1 when it comes to melting plastic, and by fitting these 4 channels into a Nextruder nozzle, we allowed Prusa users to achieve a significant flow rate boost without compromising print quality. Available in both brass and ObXidian variants these nozzles were easy to install thanks to keeping the Nextruder form factor, but with wildly enhanced functionality.
2025: ObXiDian 500 is unleashed
ObXidian was popular, and before we knew it we’d sold over 81K units of Prusa Nextruder ObXidian Nozzles. But, just because something is amazing doesn’t mean it can’t be improved upon even further. In 2025, after much development and testing, ObXiDian 500, ObXidian’s hot new predecessor was born. Taking all our learnings about coatings so far this is E3D’s most extreme coating to date.
Available in both high and standard flow, boasting a maximum printing temperature of 500°C, plus the ability to print with ANY filament (yes, you read that right), ObXiDian 500 is the next logical step up from ObXidian. So much so, that when Prusa announced their HT Hotend Upgrade (for CORE One/+ and CORE One L) they sold it, as standard, with an ObXiDian 500 nozzle. If you want to print hot then ObXiDian 500 is the natural choice. This baby delivers unparalleled strength and reliability across your entire advanced filament library, unlocking the ability to print high-temp materials like PEKK-CF, PPS-CF, PPSU. It also has the added bonuses of improved strength and increased layer adhesion thanks to its unique coating.
So what’s next?
The key to maintaining a healthy relationship is good communication and that’s just what we have built up with Prusa over the years. Our teams continue to collaborate closely, sharing ideas and pushing development forward, and we see no reason for that momentum to slow. Together, we’ve made things faster, stronger, and more reliable for Prusa users, and we believe there is still plenty of innovation ahead so watch this space!