ProtoCycler filament extruder that uses pellets and has integrated recycling grinder

ProtoCycler is new filament extruder with integrated recycling grinder that can also make filament from pellets. It should enable you to produce cheap filament from scrap objects for 0$ since it has integrated grinder or from pellets for some 5$ per one kilogram. On other important feature is integrated spooling winder mechanism. It is developed by ReDeTec from Canada.

ProtoCycler description from the IndieGogo page:

ProtoCycler is a new product that allows you to recycle waste plastic into valuable 3D printer filament - safely, quickly, and easily! It comes complete with a built in grinder, intelligent computer control, safety certification, and real time diameter feedback, so anyone can make their own filament hassle free. It also saves you a *TON* of money! Even the cheapest spools are around $30 to buy new, and they can certainly cost much more than that. ProtoCycler lets you make the same 1 kilogram spools for just $5...and if you recycle, your spools are FREE!
This means that ProtoCycler will pay for itself in just 10-20 spools - and as anyone who 3D prints knows, this doesn't take all that long. Never mind all the waste you'll divert from the trash bin. Simply put, if you 3D print, you need ProtoCycler!

ProtoCycler technical specifications:

• Diameter tolerance: +/- 0.02mm
• Extrusion speed: Up to 10 ft/minute
• Electrical usage: 60 W Average
• Dimensions: 14" x 12" x 10"
• Grinder input: 5" x 5"
• Hopper Capacity: Expandable
• Max Temp: All metal hot end for 400+ C
• Price: 799 USD range

ProtoCyler features:

• First consumer extruder with UL certification
• First extruder with grinder for built in recycling
• First extruder with diameter feedback and computer control
• Distributed Spooling
• Automatic start up and shut down
• Full Manual mode for hacking
• Open source software and community
• Beautiful brushed aluminium enclosure
• Patent pending MixFlow extrusion technology

Comparison of ProtoCycler to other filament extruders, bot DIY and prosumer models  

ProtoCycler video presentation:




Indigogo campaign:

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/protocycler-free-sustainable-3d-printer-filament

Company page: http://www.redetec.com/

Read More

DIY filament diameter sensor projects

Here is a collection of filament diameter (width) sensors for your 3d printer which will enable you to compensate for variations in filament and get better print quality. You can make them with some basic electronics skills.

Thomas Sanladerer designed, printed and tested this filament diameter sensor. It could be used on filament making extruders as a control sensor, or in 3d printers to get better printout results. The work on it is in progress, further accuracy improvements are needed but the current results look promising.

Files can be found at:

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/filament-diameter-sensor

From project description:

This is a proof-of-concept filament diameter sensor, currently intended for an extruder making filament. The filament centerline is 90mm above the mounting surface.
It picks up the filament's diameter between two bearings, amplifies it via the lever by a factor of 3.6, which moves a magnet in front of the hall sensor.
The hall sensor's depth is adjustable and is locked into place via the M3 bolt. Bend the hall sensor's leads 90° to the back and place the sensor in recessed spot. Lead the wires out to the front.

The 6x2mm magnet goes into the matching hole in the lever. The second hole intended for a ballpen spring, which is not needed in most use cases.
For testing, upload the included sketch to an Arduino, connect the hall sensor to 5V, ground and hook the signal pin up to A1 on the Arduino. Connect via serial at 115200 baud, it will start spitting out two values each line, the first one is the smoothed ADC value, the second one the calculated diameter.

To calibrate, insert a test object with the maximum diameter you want to measure between the bearings and move the hall sensor carriage until the ADC value just reaches a maximum. Lock the carriage in place and use that value along with the diameter of the object as the last entry in the Arduino's lookup table. Insert two (or more, if you increased NUMTEMPS) more objects of varying sizes (for example the shafts of drill bits) and fill out the lookup table. Use the idle position without anything inserted for the zero-diameter position.

Support might be required for the files as they contain 30° overhangs. If you use Slic3r, you're better off with no support material.

Here is a different project which is more heavily developed and has extensive video tutorial: the Filament Width Sensor by flipper for Lyman extruder or stand-alone applications with a voltmeter





Width sensor project description:

The idea is that with a real-time width measurement the 3D printer could compensate the extruded flow for changes in filament width. Also if there is variation between spools of filament, there is no need to calibrate for that when slicing. The g-code is independent of the filament diameter.

For filament extruders, the measured width can be used as feedback in the extrusion process.This version includes a custom designed pc board as well as a housing. A version of Marlin is modified to use the sensor data.

The sensor outputs a voltage in milimeters (3v=3mm) that is shown on the voltmeter.
I made some changes to Marlin to read the filament diameter real-time and compensate the extrusion rate. Code uses a buffer to manage the transit delay between the sensor measurement and the nozzle.

All the files, code and instructions can be found at:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:454584

To learn more about the purpose of filament diameter (thickens) sensors, read this Hackaday post:

http://hackaday.com/2016/02/05/filament-thickness-sensors-what-are-they-and-what-are-they-good-for/


There is a version of a diameter sensor based on hacked digital calipers developed by Wei-Hsiung Huang. It has several issues related to digital caliper precision and internal workings but it is a good learning project with some usefulness.

You can find all the instructions, code and build guide at:

http://wei48221.blogspot.hr/2016/03/building-diy-filament-width-sensor.html

http://www.instructables.com/id/Building-a-DIY-Filament-Width-Sensor-Using-Digital/?ALLSTEPS

Read More

New filament winder - Winder v3 (FilaWinder) by Ian Johnson

From project description:

Extruding natural ABS at 18"/min. The guide limit on the left isn't quite far enough to the edge. The loop seems fairly unstable seen at high speed, but the tolerance was still within .05mm. I fixed the loop near the end by keeping the filament from getting pushed back past the nozzle. As long as the filament leaves the nozzle at a constant angle for the time it takes to get from the extruder to the winder, the shape of the loop will stay consistent for the rest of the job.

Detailed information and downloads:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:174383

http://solidoodletips.wordpress.com/

Here is older v2:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/08/filament-winder-v2.html


Source:

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIdXEJdOG4_JWPI7LRzs-jA?feature=watch

Read More

X-winder DIY carbon fiber wrapper or start of DIY carbon fiber 3d printing revolution

X-winder wraps carbon fiber with epoxy on rotating object. It lowers the price of carbon tubes and elements by up to 80% compared to market prices.

When you look at it from broader perspective it is a from of 3d printer which prints with carbon fiber, it just needs to be upgraded and developed to be able to print non-rotating shapes with full x/y/z movement or at least to reinforce ABS/PLA parts with carbon fiber applied on their surface.

There were similar solutions on the beginning of DIY 3d printing machines development like this 3d printer which printed silicone on rotating tube:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/10/from-diy-3d-printing-history-1-silicone.html

There were successful applications of epoxy surface glued Kevlar and carbon fibers on regular ABS/PLA 3d printed parts which gave them amazing strength:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/06/carbon-and-kevlar-fiber-reinforced-3d.html

For next level in carbon printing we need to bring those concepts in a single machine.
Hopefully there will be someone to develop this idea further.






X-winder kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1157143472/x-winder-the-worlds-first-desktop-filament-winder

X-winder home page:

http://xwinder.com/

X-winder PDF brochure:

http://www.xwinder.com/X-Winder_TriFold_Brochure.pdf

X-winder technical specifications for standard 4 foot model and expanded 8 foot model 

Read More

Filament Winder v2

By Ian Johnson





Here is the first version:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/05/guided-filament-winder.html

Update:

here is v3:

http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2013/11/new-filament-winder-winder-v3.html

Read More