Micro Swiss NG direct drive extruder: fit and settings

The Micro Swiss NG is a bolt-on direct drive kit for Creality printers that puts a 3:1 geared dual-gear extruder, its own LDO stepper motor and a Micro Swiss all-metal hotend on the X carriage. Most versions cost $119.95 at Micro Swiss on November 4, 2026. After fitting it, set E-steps (motor steps per millimeter of filament) to 400, or Klipper rotation_distance: 8, and slicer retraction to 1.0 mm.

What is the Micro Swiss NG direct drive extruder?

The Micro Swiss NG direct drive extruder is a bolt-on kit built around a hardened-steel dual-gear extruder driven through 3:1 bevel gears. It comes with its own LDO stepper motor, a Micro Swiss all-metal hotend, a new carriage plate and a fan shroud. The bevel gears keep the filament path under 41 mm, and it starts at 400 E-steps.

Micro Swiss also still sells its original Direct Drive ($57.75 extruder only, $99.75 with hotend). That kit moves your stock extruder motor onto the carriage and starts at 130 E-steps, so check which one a listing means. What a direct drive extruder is covers the trade-offs against Bowden.

What the CR-10 / Ender 3 kit (SKU M3201) contains, by Micro Swiss’s instructions:

You keep the printer’s heater cartridge, thermistor, both fans and V-rollers. About 2.5 inches of the old Bowden tube becomes the extruder’s guide tube.

To fit it on an Ender 3, Ender 3 Pro or Ender 3 V2, follow how to add direct drive to an Ender 3. Extruder upgrades sets the NG beside the other upgrade types.

Which printers does the Micro Swiss NG direct drive fit?

Micro Swiss sells the NG for Creality printers: one kit covers the CR-10, CR-10S, S4, S5, Ender 3, Ender 3 Pro and V2. Separate kits cover the Ender 5 series, Ender 6, CR-10 V2 and V3, CR-10S Pro V2 and CR-10 Max, and each Ender 3 Neo. A Universal NG fits other printers on a custom mount.

Every version was in stock at Micro Swiss on November 4, 2026, at these prices:

The REVO kits swap the Micro Swiss hotend for an E3D Revo. Before you order:

• Match the kit to the exact model. Each kit carries the plate, extension cable, shroud and brackets for its own printers. An Ender 3 V2 Neo takes M3208, not M3201. Micro Swiss lists only the V2 of the CR-10S Pro.
• Probe. A BLTouch, CR Touch or proximity sensor needs a printed bracket, linked from Micro Swiss’s instructions; print it before you start. The Ender 5 kits include one, and the Ender 6 kit takes no BL-Touch.
• Direct-drive Ender 3 models. Micro Swiss lists no NG for the Ender 3 S1 or V3 series, which already ship with direct drive.
• Moving an NG to another printer. Micro Swiss sells the CR-10 / Ender 3 plate and both Linear Rail Edition plates on their own at $16.00 each.

Which Micro Swiss direct drive fits a linear rail system?

Micro Swiss sells two NG Linear Rail Editions at $119.95: M3203 for the CR-10 and Ender 3 family and M3204 for the Ender 5, 5 Pro and 5 Plus. Both bolt to an MGN12H carriage block on an MGN12 linear rail. The kit does not include the rail; you fit it to the X-axis extrusion first.

What Micro Swiss’s instructions say about the rail:

• Ender 3 and CR-10 (M3203). Mount the MGN12 rail on the front of the X-axis aluminum extrusion with at least two M3 T-nuts and M3 x 8 mm screws, after removing the original print head.
• Ender 5 (M3204). Mount it on top of the X-axis extrusion the same way. The kit adds printed BLTouch, endstop switch and PTFE tube brackets.
• Attaching the extruder. Both kits bolt the extruder assembly to the carriage block with four supplied M3 x 0.5 x 6 mm flat head cap screws.

E-steps, retraction and the tension knob are the same as on the other NG kits. Micro Swiss also sells its original Direct Drive in a Linear Rail System version ($57.75 extruder only, $99.75 with hotend).

What hotend comes with the Micro Swiss NG, and how hot can it print?

Every standard NG kit includes a Micro Swiss all-metal hotend: a thermal break, heater block, silicone sock and MK8 nozzle, preheated and torqued at the factory. Your printer’s heater cartridge and thermistor move into the new heater block. The NG REVO kits carry an E3D Revo hotend with its own heater instead.

How hot each one can go:

Marlin’s 260 °C is its HEATER_0_MAXTEMP of 275 °C minus the 15 °C HOTEND_OVERSHOOT margin. To print hotter, raise the limit as in firmware temperature limits, but never past the rating of the heater cartridge, thermistor or nozzle.

For the standard NG hotend:

• Nozzles. It takes MK8 nozzles. The NG product page lists plated brass, A2 tool steel, M2 high-speed steel and CM2 versions; the CR-10 V2/V3 kit ships a 0.4 mm plated brass one.
• Changing a nozzle. Preheat to exactly 220 °C and remove the filament. Hold the heater block with a wrench and unscrew the old nozzle. Torque the new one to 30 inch-pounds (about 3.4 N·m). Check that the thermal break still sits flush on top of the heater block.

For the NG REVO:

• Wiring. Join the HeaterCore’s heater and thermistor wires to the printer’s with the supplied butt splice connectors, or solder them.
• Bed and Z offset. Micro Swiss says the nozzle sits about 2.5 mm lower. Lower the bed before installing (without a probe, tighten the four leveling knobs), then recalibrate the Z offset.
• PID tune. Micro Swiss recommends a PID tune, the firmware’s heater calibration, before the first print.
• Converting an NG. The NG Revo Conversion Kit ($90.00, 24 V or 12 V) turns an existing NG into an NG REVO.

The checks after any hotend swap, from PID tuning to test heats, are in how to install an all-metal hotend.

What retraction settings work with the Micro Swiss NG?

Set retraction to 1.0 mm, the distance Micro Swiss gives for every NG kit, and never above 1.5 mm. Its instructions warn against printing any G-code sliced with more, so re-slice old Bowden files first. For flexible TPU, also loosen the tension knob to about 2.75 mm of exposed thread.

The settings that go with the NG, from Micro Swiss’s instructions:

In Cura, Retraction Distance sits under Travel. If it is hidden, Micro Swiss says to turn it on under Settings, then Configure setting visibility.

After the switch from Bowden, retune pressure advance (Klipper) or linear advance (Marlin) as in the Ender 3 direct drive guide. All-metal hotend retraction covers fine-tuning with a retraction tower.

E-steps and Klipper rotation_distance for the NG

Set 400 steps per mm in Marlin. Micro Swiss’s E-steps G-code file holds three lines; print it from the SD card like any sliced file, or send the first two from a terminal:

M92 E400 ; Set E Steps to 400
M500     ; Store Settings
M117 Saved!

In Klipper, set the extruder’s rotation distance to 8. Micro Swiss gives that value for Klipper and the Creality Sonic Pad in its CR-10S Pro V2 instructions. It matches Klipper’s formula: 200 full steps × 16 microsteps ÷ 400 steps per mm = 8.000.

[extruder]
# Keep your other [extruder] lines.
rotation_distance: 8

Left at the stock Ender 3’s 93, the NG feeds about 23% of the filament asked for (93 ÷ 400). After setting the value, extrude 50 mm, measure and correct it as in the Ender 3 direct drive guide, which also shows how to reverse a motor that feeds the wrong way.

NG tension knob settings for PLA and TPU

Gauge the gear tension by the thread showing on the brass knob, measured from the knob’s head to the aluminum extruder arm:

To load, cut the filament tip at 45°, start an extrude command from the printer menu and feed the filament into the turning gears. Micro Swiss says not to press the extruder arm until the filament has entered the lower guide tube below the gears.