Dec.11, 2013

ABS and PLA are the two common filaments for today's desktop 3D printers, and 1.75mm & 3mm are pretty much the only sizes that can be used. Ron Steele from Nampa, Idaho hopes to put more types of thermoplastic with larger cross-sectional diameters in use for 3D printers.

"Many types of plastic welding rod are considerably less expensive per pound than the common printer filament of ABS and PLA. So if this material could be made to work in a plastic printer you could have a greater variety of plastics for printing and lower material cost." says Steele.

Steele is developing a larger and more powerful 3D printer extruder head that can be fitted to existing 3D printers and will allow additional sizes and types of unique plastic filament to be printed.

The plan is to manufacture the extruders in two sizes. A large extruder which will be able to run all of the filament sizes from 1.75mm to 4.76mm (0.070 to 0.188 inch) will be driven by a powerful NEMA 23 stepper motor. And a smaller version driven by a NEMA 17 stepper motor will run filament sizes 1.75mm to 3mm (0.070 to 0.118 inch). The heater block of the extruders and the nozzles are made from copper for faster and more stable temperature control.

This solution allows users to extrude not only ABS, PLA, PETT, HIPS, PVA but many other materials that have previously not been available to the 3D printer community, such as PVDF, PVC 1, PVC 2 & CPVC, Polypropylene, Polyethylene, HMW, and Polycarbonate etc.

Ron Steele is raising funds on Kickstarter. Pledge $375 you will receive one NEMA 23 sized super extruder print head and a nice travel mug with the super extruder logo. For $750 you can get one dual mounted set of NEMA 23 sized super extruder print heads for printing 2 colors.


Posted in 3D Printer Accessories

 

 

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Dr. Saul Pressman wrote at 2/16/2017 12:39:18 AM:

I want to make steam saunas with CPVC 3D printed. I need a housing that will be 48" x 48" x 48". Any help will be welcomed.

yousef al zamil wrote at 10/27/2014 4:37:59 PM:

How much will it cost to build a 3D printer with build envelop of 4meters*4meters*4meters, That uses raw HDPE and PVC material? yousef.n.alzamil@gmail.com 00966502233322

Paucus wrote at 12/15/2013 7:26:25 PM:

is heat distribution using aluminum blocks currently a problem? copper is much more expensive

the_file wrote at 12/13/2013 9:01:47 PM:

This is a project which should be receiving MUCH more attention AND money than those stupid redundant 3d printer designs. Most of which are nothing more than a bunch of overpriced repraps hand assembled by a "company". This extruder is actual innovation, so sad they aren't close to their plege goal. The potential for this is extruder seems very huge.

the_file wrote at 12/13/2013 9:01:26 PM:

This is a project which should be receiving MUCH more attention AND money than those stupid redundant 3d printer designs. Most of which are nothing more than a bunch of overpriced repraps hand assembled by a "company". This extruder is actual innovation, so sad they aren't close to their plege goal. The potential for this is extruder seems very huge.

JF43FR wrote at 12/13/2013 2:09:18 PM:

CAUTION: PVC extruding is REALLY DANGEROUS for safe health ! on warming, PVC releases poisonous gazes that will kill you in no time. So care with plastic warming experiences ...

jd90 wrote at 12/12/2013 2:55:14 PM:

Nema 23? OK, but that's less optimal than a Nema 17 with 5:1 gear reduction, from a power consumption and weight perspective. It looks like a NEMA 23 motor weighs twice as much as a Phidgets 3317. I wish I could just buy a couple parts, I'd like to try that hot end, even just the nozzle would be helpful.

German RepRap wrote at 12/12/2013 9:13:37 AM:

PP is already available as a Food save filament at German RepRap.



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