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SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Filastruder → Wood Composite Filament
Has anyone tried making this? AFAIK it's just a polymer (usually polyethylene of some sort) mixed with pulverized/powderized wood. It seems like it would be possibly, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were some gotchas.
I got some saw dust from the local Box store. It was pretty chunky so I bought a cheap blender (barely smart enough not to use my wife's kitchen one) and tried to cut it down. Didn't work in the dry. I slurry it up, but that didn't really work well either. I have a fruit drier that I was going to use to dry it out.
WPC (Wood Plastic Composite) is a really tough nut to crack. The commercial stuff is Polyolefins for decking and PVC for windows and getting the wood to compatibilized with the polymers isn't easy. Then add in the wood types out there... Getting it dry is critical.
I assume we want to use standard 0.4mm nozzles, though I have a Printrbot Plus that I have a 0.8mm nozzle on. A 3mm filament machine with a 1.0mm+ nozzle is what I'm thinking might work best for home made filament.
I've looked at trying to find finer wood particles. Rockler has wood flour listed. Maybe a marine supply place might have some for mixing with epoxy for repairs.
I've started looking at conductives, so wood is on the back burner.
Don't forget to take out the melt filter if you get that far.
Yeah, the research I've done suggest that some sort of additive is necessary to get the polymers to bond with the wood powder.
EDIT:
By the way, for those curious, here are some links which may be of interest:
There are several companies that sell WF filament and they also sell the pellets for home extruding.
Tin
I assume we want to use standard 0.4mm nozzles, though I have a Printrbot Plus that I have a 0.8mm nozzle on. A 3mm filament machine with a 1.0mm+ nozzle is what I'm thinking might work best for home made filament.
I've looked at trying to find finer wood particles. Rockler has wood flour listed.
Wood flour is a MUST. But also there are additives that allow the wood particles to bind to the base polymer. The wood particles seem to expand while extruding filament and as such a .5mm nozzle is not enough, .8mm or bigger would be better.
I have been testing a PP based wood flour pellet that has warp properties to that of ABS, but getting it to not clog the nozzle has been the hard part.
Also the filament is quite brittle. MUCH MUCH more than PLA.
-os3dp
as such a .5mm nozzle is not enough, .8mm or bigger would be better.
Sounds like a job for the Volcano!
There are several companies that sell WF filament and they also sell the pellets for home extruding.
Tin
Interesting, do you have any links for that?
Colorfab brand is the first that comes to mind.
The filament is out there from several sources. The pellets may be harder to come by
http://colorfabb.com/woodfill-pellets-pack
If you contact Matt at printed solid He should be able to order you some pellets.
http://printedsolid.com/collections/wood
He does not stock them.
Another otion ready to ship
http://www.makergeeks.com/eacoplape.htmlbut a bit pricey.
Hope this helps.
Tin
SoliForum - 3D Printing Community → Filastruder → Wood Composite Filament
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