(Delo$tuder) Fillament Maker for 3d Printer on the Cheap (first Working Prototype)

create your own 3d printer filament at home without any special parts / component / tools needed.

just using basic / common material that is available near you.

I am building this only takes less than a days, but with some adjustment and tuning need a bit more time to achieve.

ON THE CHEAP AND RECYCLING .... THAT'S IS ALWAYS MY GOAL

I am sure there is a bunch similar with kind of these laying around at the web, But now I am going to share what I did so far, and I am quite satisfied with the result.

feedback will be really appreciate so I Can make this even more better and improved.

so... lets get started

parts that I used

1. wooden drill bits. this is for mixing and pushing the pallets into the heater chamber and compress it.
why using wooden bits ? not iron bits. you may already aware on that. no need to explain.
Acquire by : Buying this in local hardware store for 1.5 buck

2. some metal / stainless tubes for the barrel / heating chambers, square metal bars for the body / frames...a piece of thin iron plates welded together and shaped as you like for the Hooper of the pellets.
Acquire by : Buying this in Junk store for 0.5 bucka kilo :)

3. some ball bearing to connect the drill bits axes to the gears to make a smooth rotation. this time I am not needed any housing for the ball bearing, I just welded together with the frame.
Acquire by : Buying this in Junk store for FREE include in above  :)

4. gears combination and chains to drive the axes.
Acquire by : Here I am using small and old, unused bicycle of my little son and gear combination it just perfect, and all off this is contribute to him :) for the first place

5. off course the motor to make this running. here I am using the 12v cars wiper motors, or geared motor with low speed and high torque is a must.
Acquire by : Buying this in Junk store for 10 buck

6. heater element...to juice the pellets and melt it. here I am using real reprap ceramic heating element. (this was my 3th attempt)
Acquire by : eBay -- Chinese markets for 2.5 buck shipped.

Before we are jump to next step, I am going to share a bit of stories ....

by the way this was my 3th attempt, since my previous step to make the heater element working was failed.

at the beginning, I am using the heater element from rice cooker heating wire and because I have no thermostat or any similar circuit to control, I just connect it to the 220V wall source, the pellet plastic gets melts so bad until it's become a liquid and produced so much smokes and it's become FLAMMABLE -- SUDDENLY I JUST THINKING AND THIS ALSO INSPIRED ME IT COULD ALSO CAN BE USE TO TRANSFORM THE PLASTIC TO OIL :)
and the last...because of uncontrolled heat, the heat wire shield can not hold to much heat and its grounded to the metal barrel (because I am not have any kapton tape or similar on hand) and the wall electricity gets SHOCKED me....THIS IS SO DANGER. SO PLEASE BE CAREFUL IF YOU USE THIS METHOD, I HAVE WARNED YOU AND TAKES NO ANY RESPONSIBLE TO ANY INJURY YOU MAY HAVE -- PLEASE BE CAREFUL.


The 2nd attempt is by using the nickle wire which I am obtained from my wife hair drier (this is my second person who deserve to earn the contribution of this machine) ...but it's FAILED TOO :(.
The reason why,  I can not get correct and proper voltage and ampere to control the heat (AGAIN).


NEXT IS TIME TO BUILD.


After you gather all necessary parts in previous steps.. just do the assemble. see the picture for more details, sorry I have no better word to explain, just let the images explain to you.

Also with my limited of knowledge and self-taught experience with many many time I gets failed, FINALLY some stage I am able to make this THING running. after doing some modification and some adjusting.


FYI ... and THE BOTTOM LINE IS :

this device is now running with 12v dc...so this will saves me from wall electric shocked.


The power source can be obtained from modified PC power supply (DO A GOOGLE SEARCH IF YOU NEED MORE DETAIL ON HOW TO DO THIS) or by using cars or motorcycle battery.



THINGS NEED TO BE DONE IN THE FUTURE BUILD :

1. NEED TO REWORK ALL PROCESS AND USING PROPER MATERIAL ( I am planing to use BRASS) so will looks more interesting

2. MAKES THE HEATER CONTROL (THERMOSTAT) and PWM MOTOR CIRCUITS SO THE HEAT AND MOTOR ROTATION CAN BE CONTROLLED. ALSO IT'S DEPEND OF THE PELLETS USE (PLA or ABS). ABS will require more heat to melt.


If you see at the images, I am using TWO DC 12V Ceramic heater (located at top and bottom on the barrel) extruding PLA and ABS pellets is just melting perfectly. BUT ABS require more time for heater to hot enough.


I am powering directly this thing to Modified PC PSU 12V line

and to get slow speed on the motor I am powering the car washer unit directly with PC PSU 5V line (and works like a charm)

3. ADDING SOME FANCY CONTROL and PANEL UNIT to makes more eye catching

4. POSSIBLY WILL DO THE COVER so will looks like commercial product :)