April 16, 2012
"Filabot," a 3D plastic extrusion system, grinds and melts the old plastic items such as milk jugs, shampoo bottles and plastic packaging in an extrusion to make usable filament for 3D printing.
What a brilliant idea to make 3D printing self-sufficient - to make plastic recycling and extrusion accessible and affordable for anyone.
The entry level personal filament maker is the Filabot Reclaimer. It has a size of 12x12x24inch (305x305x610mm) and includes the grinding, extruding, and spooling system.
The Grinder will tear up bottles and can handle up to a good 3in by 3in chunk of plastic. Material from the grinder can either be stockpiled or fed directly into the extruder hopper. From there the extruder will melt and pressurize the molten plastic to push it through the interchangeable dyes. There are two dyes included with the Filabot Reclaimer, a 3mm and 1.75mm, depending on the filament size needed. The spool system will automatically roll the filament onto a spool after cooling and sizing.
The plastic items that are used in Filabot are soda bottles, milk jugs, water pipes, buckets, DVDs, sunglasses or bad prints. The first prototype made over 8ft of filament using only a milk jug and a detergent bottle.
Tyler McNaney, a student at Vermont Technical College, has achieved his target funding goal of $10,000 with $32,330 pledged on Kickstarter. He is now able to turn his invention into a start-up company. Check out more information at his new website Filabot.com.
Watch video below the first successful print of Filabot on a Makerbot Cupcake MK5 extruder. The test filament was extruded from black ABS pellets.
Posted in 3D Printing Materials
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