SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (n2ri) — Sun, 01 May 2016 21:48:14 +0000

also could get a clamp for "unistrut' (the green brackets used in commercial buildings to hang pipes etc from cielings) and attach it to the pliers in a way that the screw clamp could be fastened to frame of 3D printer like that other maker done on video using a rainbow of ABS sticks.

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (n2ri) — Sun, 01 May 2016 21:42:37 +0000

yes! thats it. cool... or rather Hot! lol

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (Kronikabuse) — Sun, 01 May 2016 21:32:13 +0000

I got a little farther on mine. need to plug it in and try it still. but it did work before i wired out the notch. Thanks to Heartlander for reminding me about the project lol

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (n2ri) — Sun, 01 May 2016 21:01:25 +0000

Weekend Avenger wrote:

The splicer I have works every time. It's called "Fuse". It's fairly small and they are for sale for a not totally unreasonable price, but it does do what it claims to.
Downside is that it is cumbersome and attempts to burn your fingers. "Theoretically" you can fuse multiple colors and just keep pushing them through the thing. Practically, you can't do that because you won't have the thing mounted anywhere useful, so you'll have to take it apart to get your filament out of it.
When I need to use mine, I set it on the stove's metal top so no matter how long I leave it on it won't scorch anything. I then fuse my leftovers from one spool to a new spool, unplug and wait for it to cool down, then take it apart to get my filament out. It's only the three "wheeled nuts" that hold it together, so it does come apart easily.

I bet they could modify that tool to mount on like a Vise Grip pliers with long handls to keep heat off hands. then you could just clamp it on and release it off with the 2 halfs each mounted on 1 jaw/side. I have seen other such designs of tools for special use.

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (Weekend Avenger) — Sun, 01 May 2016 04:21:46 +0000

The splicer I have works every time. It's called "Fuse". It's fairly small and they are for sale for a not totally unreasonable price, but it does do what it claims to.

Downside is that it is cumbersome and attempts to burn your fingers. "Theoretically" you can fuse multiple colors and just keep pushing them through the thing. Practically, you can't do that because you won't have the thing mounted anywhere useful, so you'll have to take it apart to get your filament out of it.

When I need to use mine, I set it on the stove's metal top so no matter how long I leave it on it won't scorch anything. I then fuse my leftovers from one spool to a new spool, unplug and wait for it to cool down, then take it apart to get my filament out. It's only the three "wheeled nuts" that hold it together, so it does come apart easily.

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (mdrVB6) — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 18:20:24 +0000

I wonder what the success rate is for any of the filament splicers out there? If you leave much of any blob or diameter irregularity in the filament, it can easily clog the hot end. IMO, if you must do a multiple material print from a single nozzle, the best way is to build in a pause, manually swap it out, and resume.

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (elmoret) — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 15:54:12 +0000

A laser would not heat the filament evenly, one side would be well above melting temperature while the other side was just above room temperature. You need to heat from all sides evenly.

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (Heartlander) — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 14:49:26 +0000

I understand but it fits the requirement well. Quick, precise heat followed by immediate cooling.

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (heartless) — Thu, 28 Apr 2016 13:51:51 +0000

lasers come with their own set of issues - safety being #1... not sure I would go there myself.

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (Heartlander) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 19:00:59 +0000

Well, I've been googling around. Of course, like most of my brainchilds, it is an old idea. I don't see any using a low heat laser. Seems like that would be a natural, doesn't it? Push both ends into a PTFE tube with a hole in the top center where the laser zaps both ends for a second before allowing it to cool? Have the laser on a foot pedal switch.

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (heartless) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 14:47:19 +0000

there are all kinds of "ideas" out there for splicing filaments - a simple google search will give you lots of results

Re: This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (Kronikabuse) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 14:18:38 +0000

They do make a filament splicer . I have a project for one I've been working on, but it's currently on a back burner.

This will sound nutty but (Filament Splicing)

null@example.com (Heartlander) — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 14:05:11 +0000

does anyone know of a way to glue or weld or otherwise connect pieces of filament, end-to-end?

I want to attach various types of one plastic type (like all ABS) maybe different colors, metallic, clear, etc. so the printed object is a composite, layers of aesthetically complimentary stuff.

Ideally, someone would make multi-material filaments maybe multi-color, multi-transparents/translucent and multi-metals.

I envision an object made of layers of aluminum, brass, iron, bronze, silver maybe interspersed with blacks and clear or maybe stone and wood.