So you’ve got yourself a 3D printer, and you’re designing prototypes or tinkering with things you downloaded from the thingiverse. After a while, chances are your workspace is starting to look like layered plastic graveyard.
Filabot can help with that.
Filabot is a desktop filament maker. (via Whitney Trudo for Filabot)
The plastic extrusion robot, developed by Vermont Technical College student Tyler McNaney, allows you to recycle all of that plastic to make usable 3D printing filament. An all-in-one tool, the Filabot can grind, melt and extrude plastic filament.
Step one of the process is the grinding unit, which processes plastic into pieces of the appropriate size. The plastic is then passed through the rest of the system to be melted, extruded, cooled and spooled. By the power of interchangeable nozzles, the Filabot can produce filament that’s 3mm or 1.75mm, depending on your needs.
In addition to rejected 3D prints, the Filabot recycles just about any kind of plastic, including milk jugs, soda bottles and packaging material. A two-liter soda bottle can be converted into about $2.50 worth of filament. And in keeping with the desktop 3D printing theme, the whole system is fairly compact—measuring 24in by 12in by 16in.
McNaney and his team are in the process of fulfilling orders from their successful 2012 Kickstarter campaign and hope to bring the Filabot to market for consumers in 2013. In addition to the full Filabot Reclaimer, their product line up will also include a stand-alone grinder and two smaller units that do not include a grinder. In addition, they’ve also made an open source version of the extruder, called the Filabot Wee, available on their website. It can be built for about $350.
To learn more about Filabot, visit the Filabot website.
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