3D Printer running on shred?

Has there been any progress on building a large format 3D printer to run directly on shredded plastic? I understand that pellets might be the best option, but I haven't give up on direct from shred. I can get some funding for building one at our location and will document extensively.

I saw this on Aliexpress but I didn't order one: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806039424534.html usually these direct extruders have been in the $3-400USD range

Jon Simmons

Has there been any progress on building a large format 3D printer to run directly on shredded plastic? I understand that pellets might be the best option, but I haven't give up on direct from shred. I can get some funding for building one at our location and will document extensively.

I have seen several commercial units. They appear to not be sold any more or the company sales people are extremly hard to get a hold of.

8:13 PM

I will paste some link below to the ones I contacted in a bit.

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Re3D Gigabot X2

8:38 PM

Tumaker NX Pro

8:38 PM

I could not reach either

https://mahor.xyz/

admin

mahor·xyz

· Imagine Additive Manufacturing ·

1

12:33 AM

Mahor is the only commerical avalable one i know but that in a 600 EUro price range

12:33 AM

but that for smaller 3D printers

12:35 AM

There a Canadian company Dyze Design 2023 that seem to sell a larger pelet extruder but no clue on the cost for that https://dyzedesign.com/pulsar-pellet-extruder/

Pulsar™ Pellet Extruder: Industrial High Flow Extruder - DYZE DESIGN

Pulsar is a high flow plastic pellet extruder. Designed to print large parts as quickly and cost-effective as possible. Pulsar output as much as 2.5kg/h.

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JarvisSan

but that for smaller 3D printers

I have searched a few of these designs, all show out of stock or not available to order.

12:53 AM

Anyone ever order one?

I tried getting a test extruder out of two Aliexpress sellers but no luck

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this design is open source: https://wiki.fablab-muenchen.de/display/FABMX/FabMX+Pellet+Extruder

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1:52 AM

an available commercial one (still expensive) https://shop.recycl3dprint.com/products/lily-pellet-extruder-assembled?variant=34189858701451

https://polylab.org/pellet-extrduer there is this one as well

Polylab

We are an Australian prototyping and design hub, aimed to turn your idea into reality, based in Geelong Victoria.

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@Jon Simmons what kind of shred are you looking to test?

waterppk

I saw this on Aliexpress but I didn't order one: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256806039424534.html usually these direct extruders have been in the $3-400USD range

Thanks! I'll check that out. Looks small but maybe design can scale up

JarvisSan

https://mahor.xyz/

Thank you

HAL_9000

@Jon Simmons what kind of shred are you looking to test?

whatever comes out of our PP shredder, mostly hdpe at 5mm granule. I want to go big on the build volume. Familiar with the engineering challenges of this. My biggest concern is reliable granule feed into the extruder. Will report on progress.

10:02 PM

Thanks everybody!

Here is what I am looking at now:

10:15 PM

https://github.com/DisruptivelyUseful/Trash-Printer

GitHub - DisruptivelyUseful/Trash-Printer: An open-source, low-cost...

An open-source, low-cost, large-format 3D printer that prints directly from shredded plastic trash instead of filament - GitHub - DisruptivelyUseful/Trash-Printer: An open-source, low-cost, large-f...

10:16 PM

https://hangprinter.org/doc/v4/

Hangprinter

Cable Driven RepRap

10:17 PM

I'll try to assess the best of these two and talk with the creators on what they wish they did different...

Wow that's cool!

1:53 AM

Where are you based Jon?

Also, I read about Trash Printer on hackaday

2:25 AM

https://hackaday.io/project/185691-the-trash-printer-version-3

The Trash Printer - Version 3

The Trash Printer is an open-source large-format 3D printer that can print new and useful things directly out of shredded plastic trash. Polypropylene (#5) works best, but I've also printed with HDPE and LDPE (#2 and #4) Together, these common plastics make up over 50% of all household plastic waste! The parts aren't as detailed as typical 3D p...

2:25 AM

very interesting, and they mention this project :

2:25 AM

https://crowdforimpact.com/project-details/solving-the-plastic-waste-problem-with-3d-printing-4190ac96/overview

Solving The Plastic Waste Problem With 3d Printing | Crowd For Impact

Our large-scale 3D printer upcycles plastic waste into new and useful objects. In order to get the plastic waste cleaned and processed for printing, we need specific machinery and thus, your help. By supporting our campaign you help us reduce plastic waste.

2:26 AM

but it seems that something went wrong with this project, no more communication, do you know about it perhaps?

octaviusmagnus

https://hackaday.io/project/185691-the-trash-printer-version-3

Very nice find , now I want to make it

oh it was the same project as the github repo he posted actually haha

12:43 AM

but the one of bloft is mind blowing, quality wise, it seems promising

I'm currently mentoring a senior design project at a university near Chicago, USA that is converting an Ender 3 printer to run from pellets.

2:06 PM

The project is only half done, but I'm glad to share details.

share away