Very interesting to see. Thanks for the link! Will be rather difficult to make such a setup here in the office But I can definitely try to see what we can do here.
Cool thanks for the info! Have you been able to produce good results with Polystyreen?
I will definitely try some temperature changes again to see if maybe this has some results after all. However I think we’ll be trying to indeed drill our own nozzles as well. Will keep you posted on our progress!
You should buy PP tape and apply this to your printbed. The print will stick to the tape and the tape prevents it from warping.
You can print on PP plate (for example a cuttingboard) as well, the stiffness of the plate prevents the warping. You’ll be having troubles getting the print off though.
You need a cooling tank and a puller to “draw down” the resin and maintain tension on the filament as it comes out. The gap between the exit of the extruder and the entry of the cooling tank (water bath) is critical as is the temperature of the water. The proper cooling rate is essential too, as the filament cools from the outside circumferance inward to the center which may cause a void in the center. I have designed extrusion die for 15 years an am very familiar with the extrusion process.
Hi guys! Good to see some experimenting going on! It’s only a matter of time before 3D printing moves to fully recycled filaments. We from the Perpetual Plastic Project dis some test last year with different plastics as well. PP is a hard one to extrude indeed but is has some really nice printing qualities. Check our blog post for the other plastics and our findings as well: http://www.perpetualplasticproject.com/blog/2014/5/30/plastics-recycled-for-3dprinting 10
I’ve had a conversation with a manufacturer of PLA granulates on this topic. He said it’s really bad to have the extruded PLA filament to run through water, because it will absorb the water and make steam while extruding on the printer…
Ward, this goes for extruding PP, NYLON, PE, HDPE, ABS, PVC etc. Have not extruded PLA before, but am pretty sure you would extrude PLA like any other plastic. This is how “industry” extrudes plastics. Yes, extruding plastics you need proper ventilation or you will be inhaling “polymer vapor” which is toxic. I work for a company who has been extruding plastics since the 70’s. Extruding filaments is fairly easy with the proper equipment, check out this book: http://www.rauwendaal.com/pubs_books.htm 2 if you want to learn polymer extrusion.
From the conclusion of the article: “excessive moisture and heat represent a serious threat to the quality of PLA products.”
So I avoid contact with water at any case while extruding my filament
