[ Closed ] Filament Extruder - Convert pellets to filament (Page 13 of 58)

I love the 2 buttons!

I split my AC adapter wires so that I have a positive and negative for both the Motor and the Fan.  The AC Adapter plugs into the white 2 prong extension cord (which has been cut to have around 6" of cable.  That cable is then wired to one of my switches. The other switch is wired to the PID.

So I turn on the first switch which powers up the PID and starts warming up the heat band.  After about 20 mins, I flip the other switch which turns on the Motor and filament cooling fan.

I can leave the entire setup plugged into an outlet and just flip the switches when I want to use the system.  Is this needed? Not really, but it adds a certain amount of polish to the project.

I've got some 2100lb roller bearings on the way. McMaster: 5909K11     + (2) 5909K71. Roller bearings are more suited to this application, but were twice as much as the ball bearings I started with. Still only a few bucks.

Printing out the fan cone now.

I don't think we mentioned the Makibox Ramen yet. It is supposed to be $150 and includes an auto spooling system.

http://www.makibox.com/details/product/ramen_kit

EDIT:
Ramen First Look

Ah good link! I'm more interested in their spooler but it looks like they are still at extruding stages.

That last stl I put up didnt work to out well, the foil was providing to much resistance.

Today's project:

I used the fan duct from http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:12302

and taped it to the fan then jammed the fan into this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5450

Sidenote, I really need to learn more Sketchup.. and buy some screws to have for projects.

I had some 1/2" acoustic foam laying around. Didn't do much, maybe ~5db but the wife appreciates it. 

My next big hurdle is these damn cats! I live in a house that completely lacks doors and the keep knocking it off the guide!

The noise is one of the biggest drawbacks of the current design. How much noise reduction are you talking?

I'm having issues with the filament sticking to the brass with my new design.  Do you think this could be caused the brass being to cold from all of the direct air? Or do I just need to clean the brass occasionally?

That's odd. It's actually just copper pipe. I've extruded like 10 lbs and never cleaned mine. It might actually be that the filament is still hot - your fan is further away than mine was, and the cone goes outwards so air velocity will be reduced. If the filament is still hot, it will stick and bunch up for sure. Same thing if the guide is too far away or too close.

An oil bath is something I've considered, but I don't know that I can seal the gearbox well enough. Really, the solution is finding the right motor. I know it's out there somewhere!

Does anyone here have experience with printed gears? Can they handle tooth forces of 10-20 lbs?

The Wade's Extruder calls for a motor rated at 5 in-lbs, and the gears are strong enough to stall the stepper. The teeth are about 0.25" from the center of the shaft, which puts the tooth load at about 20 lbs.

I have the liberty of making the teeth bigger, too. Unfortunately I do not have any PLA, which is what they recommend, as its wear life is better. http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?1,175026,175036

Looks like I'll spend my free time tomorrow CADing up some gears. a 8:1 ratio would put this guy:

http://www.mpja.com/24VDC-19RPM-Gearmot … /19284+MD/

at 2.2RPM, 66.5 in-lbs of torque. Which is just about where the current motor is. The linked motor is one I have on hand already.

I have seen printed gears take some high loads but there is no telling how long they will last like that. I know plastic gears are used in a ton of applications.  Back when I worked with a dimension printer we printed a ton of helical gears for a geo tranny...wish we could have put those to use.