Post : Finally, turning plastic pellets into 3D printer filament
URL : http://hackaday.com/2012/10/22/finally-turning-plastic-pellets-into-3d-printer-filament/
Posted : October 22, 2012 at 6:00 am
Author : Brian Benchoff
Tags : extruder, filabot, filament extruder, printer filament
Categories : 3d Printer hacks

http://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/filament.jpeg

Here's the situation: a kilogram of 3D printer filament costs about $50. A kilogram of plastic pellets costs less than a tenth of that. Does anyone have a solution to this problem?

For years now, the general consensus was making your own 3D printer filament at home was nigh impossible, dealing with temperatures, pressures, and tolerances that home-built machines simply can't handle. [Bradley] sent in a filament extruder he made (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32667) because he was disturbed at this current mindset that desktop filament factories have huge technical issues that have yet to be overcome.

[Bradley]'s extruder is based on the Lyman Filament Extruder (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:30642) , a machine that has successfully demonstrated taking plastic pellets, forming them into a filament, and having this filament used in the production of 3D printed parts. [Bradley]'s improvements include a variable-speed motor, a larger hot end, and an automatic timing system to produce set quantities of printer filament.

Of course, since Inventables threw $40,000 at the problem (http://hackaday.com/2012/05/22/win-40000-for-squirting-plastic-out-of-a-nozzle/?preview=true&preview_id=74997&preview_nonce=90bd4198c2) of creating filament at home there were bound to be more than a few successful designs making their way out into the public. When we last covered the developments of home filament manufacturing, the Filabot (http://filabot.com/) seemed to be in the lead. Now with [Bradley] (and [Lyman])'s machines turning out usable filament, it's only a matter of time before the 40 grand prize is snatched.

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