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You can buy a machine for $300 that recycles plastic at home for your 3D printer. https://www.filastruder.com/collections/filastruders-accessories/products/fila

by sydd 8y ago

You can buy a machine for $300 that recycles plastic at home for your 3D printer. https://www.filastruder.com/collections/filastruders-accessories/products/filastruder-kit?variant=338125655 https://www.filastruder.com/collections/filastruders-accesso...

zaroth 8y ago
It expects pellets on the input; The Filastruder filament extruder needs chunks of plastic that are no larger than 5mm on any side. So it’s missing a step from being an actual recycling bin.
blihp 8y ago
It's nice in theory, less so in practice based on the various reviews of the various DIY filament solutions I've seen. There are problems both with the consistency of the diameter of the extruded filament and the fact that each time you melt plastic it degrades significantly so that even on the second melt you have to mix in a significant fraction of new material.[1] We might get there eventually but in the meantime, people have had more success melting down waste plastics into bars/rods for use in subtractive (i.e. lathe/mill) applications. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_degradation_of_polymers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_degradation_of_polymer...
Razengan 8y ago
In the game FTL, the universal currency is "scrap", presumably because of 3D printers/fabricators/replicators that can turn it into anything else. [0] https://subsetgames.com/ftl.html https://subsetgames.com/ftl.html
- leggomylibro 8y ago
  Haha, yeah - if I ever get to make a game in the apocalypse/hoarder genre, 'polyethylene' is going to be a core resource. It doesn't lend itself to 3D printing because it is similar to Teflon/PTFE in not wanting to stick to anything, but it is still astonishing stuff. You can melt/press it into molds, and if you toss it in a toaster oven you can even knead it like putty through welding gloves if you're careful. Metal tools will chew through it like butter with hardly any wear, and it is very light for its strength. You can even melt down the shavings. And if you need to, you can often "glue" it to things with anything from a soldering iron to a blowtorch.

by sydd 8y ago

zaroth 8y ago

It expects pellets on the input; The Filastruder filament extruder needs chunks of plastic that are no larger than 5mm on any side. So it’s missing a step from being an actual recycling bin.

blihp 8y ago

It's nice in theory, less so in practice based on the various reviews of the various DIY filament solutions I've seen. There are problems both with the consistency of the diameter of the extruded filament and the fact that each time you melt plastic it degrades significantly so that even on the second melt you have to mix in a significant fraction of new material.[1] We might get there eventually but in the meantime, people have had more success melting down waste plastics into bars/rods for use in subtractive (i.e. lathe/mill) applications. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_degradation_of_polymers https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_degradation_of_polymer...

Razengan 8y ago

In the game FTL, the universal currency is "scrap", presumably because of 3D printers/fabricators/replicators that can turn it into anything else. [0] https://subsetgames.com/ftl.html https://subsetgames.com/ftl.html

leggomylibro 8y ago
Haha, yeah - if I ever get to make a game in the apocalypse/hoarder genre, 'polyethylene' is going to be a core resource. It doesn't lend itself to 3D printing because it is similar to Teflon/PTFE in not wanting to stick to anything, but it is still astonishing stuff. You can melt/press it into molds, and if you toss it in a toaster oven you can even knead it like putty through welding gloves if you're careful. Metal tools will chew through it like butter with hardly any wear, and it is very light for its strength. You can even melt down the shavings. And if you need to, you can often "glue" it to things with anything from a soldering iron to a blowtorch.