1 Topic by Kushal LayerInk

  • Kushal LayerInk
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Topic: Help us build a Filament Extruder

Hi folks,

Kushal from LayerInk here - my team and me are developing a filament extruder for home use. This extruder was born out of our own need to conveniently produce filament on-demand in quantities, various colors and compositions (ABS, PLA, Woodfill, etc.) as needed for our 3D Printing service bureau (insta3dprinting.com).

When we looked at the market we found that there weren’t any that offered a really good solution without making it inconvenient. So, we researched plastic processing technology, studied industrial extruders and worked with advanced fabrication tools to replicate Industrial plastic extrusion screws instead of using an off the shelf auger bit. These screws produce a better quality melt because they rely on mechanical shearing of the polymer to generate the heat needed to melt the polymer as against relying completely on external heat.

We are also working on an integrated product design, with automatic spooling, dimensional control and automatic control. So far we have tested the extruder with multiple materials including PLA, ABS, Wood composite, etc. and going forward we will test with Nylon, Flexible, Copper, Bronze and Brass filled filament and other ‘specialty filaments’.

Currently, we have prototypes up and running and are working on testing our extruded filament as well as packaging all the various modules into a sleek, tasteful and ergonomic exterior shell.

Please help us build a product that we hope will add to your 3D Printing experience. Below is link to a brief survey that we promise will not take more than 5 minutes of your time. We kindly request that you submit just one response to this survey so that we have good data that will aid us in making this Filament Extruder a reality. All responses are confidential.

goo.gl/forms/KVMxm2XCpf

If you want to contribute more in any capacity, feel free to respond below or email me at [email protected]

Thank you very much for your time. Much Appreciated!
Happy 3D Printing ☺

Best,
Kushal

2 Reply by Ggalisky

  • Ggalisky
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Re: Help us build a Filament Extruder

Pics or it did not happen.

Ulitmaker 2, a few repraps, Custom Big FFF 3D printer with heated chamber.

My Blog http://ggalisky.weebly.com/
My Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXShYo … aDUpebDAOw

3 Reply by Sungod3000

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Re: Help us build a Filament Extruder

I would be interested in your ideas for diameter control...

4 Reply by FelixP

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Re: Help us build a Filament Extruder

The real issue you are going to have to deal with, is who are you going to compete with, and how are you going to do it?

$300 - The filastruder is about as cheap as you get for a basic ABS/PLA extruder (it could do more, but that requires modification)

$700 - The filabot (wee) is currently the cheapest extruder that can extrude difficult plastics like Nylon and Polycarbonate out of the box.

If you want to make a competitor to the filastruder, then you either have to convince potential customers that your extruder is worth the extra cost in build and filament quality(because it will end up costing more than the filastruder).

If you want to make a competitor to the filabot, then you will have to make it cheaper than the filabot, and still capable of handling the higher temp materials.

5 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Help us build a Filament Extruder

Just for clarity's sake, the only modification a Filastruder needs to handle Polycarbonate/Nylon is a 15 volt power supply. I include a 12 volt power supply in stock for to keep temperatures limited to reasonable values for ABS or PLA extrusion, in the event of a controller failure or user error. To my knowledge, Filastruder is the only extruder designed with this safety feature in mind. Advanced users can pick up an inexpensive 15 volt power supply to unlock higher temperatures. The included heater is rated for use with up to 18 volts.

Polycarbonate on a Filastruder:
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/9090/pc- … m-pc-2012/

Nylon on a Filastruder:
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/8237/nyl … 8-regrind/

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

6 Reply by FelixP

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Re: Help us build a Filament Extruder

elmoret wrote:

Just for clarity's sake, the only modification a Filastruder needs to handle Polycarbonate/Nylon is a 15 volt power supply.

Except for when Ggalisky did the nylon, he was getting low diameters at 220 C and 230 C (it was close at 210, but the extrusion was rough). Depending on your printer's extruder, that might be a problem if it extrudes very thin. Because of this he was considering drilling out the nozzle. I'd assume trying to get Nylon to print properly would either require more cooling to keep the filament from drawing too thin out of the nozzle, or making a larger nozzle to provide a closer diameter to what the user wants.

Yes, the filastruder can extrude high temperature materials, but it's not out of the box, and the process has not been refined, even with modifications. Don't get me wrong, I'm trying to get in contact with Ggalisky to have him test some more nylon types; I want to see the filastruder succeed in being able to extrude high temp plastics, and with cheap/minimal modification, but it's not ready to do that out of the box. An extruder that can do that without modifications (and can do it cheaper than a filabot) would make for a good competitor in the current extruder "market".

7 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Help us build a Filament Extruder

Well yes, its not possible to make a one size fits all nozzle for every polymer. I provide nozzles that are a bit smaller, as it is easier to make a small hole bigger than a big hole smaller. It takes about 30 seconds to drill a nozzle, problem solved.

That was also recycled nylon. Recycled polymers are a different beast.

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

8 Reply by FelixP

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Re: Help us build a Filament Extruder

elmoret wrote:

That was also recycled nylon. Recycled polymers are a different beast.

I don't believe I've read anything on the forum about this before. Are some of the nylon molecules being broken or damaged in the recycling process? Or is there something else that causes a decrease in the diameter when extruded?

9 Reply by elmoret

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Re: Help us build a Filament Extruder

All polymers exhibit degradation when recycled.

With that said if the only concern is diameter, again that is easily resolved with a drill and 30 seconds.

Filastruder - the robust, inexpensive filament extruder
E3Dv6 All Metal Hotend - the premier 3D printing hotend

10 Reply by Kifu

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Re: Help us build a Filament Extruder

FelixP wrote:
elmoret wrote:

That was also recycled nylon. Recycled polymers are a different beast.

I don't believe I've read anything on the forum about this before. Are some of the nylon molecules being broken or damaged in the recycling process? Or is there something else that causes a decrease in the diameter when extruded?

When polymers come into contact with heat, they start degrading, its just how it works thermodynamically. Shear and heat breaks down the polymer chains, so just by processing it in an injection moulder or a sheet/film/filament extruder, you already begin the degradation. Nylon is especially sensitive to the presence of water at high temperatures, and is also known to have a smaller processing window (temperature between melting and significant degradation) compared to other polymers such as ABS.

When polymers start to degrade, the first most noticeable change is the reduction in melt strength and viscosity. Reduced melt strength means that it is harder to pull the molten polymer without the polymer getting skinny over a very short distance, and eventually break.