Starterkits are packages of information with everything you need to know to set up Precious Plastic recycling spaces and start tackling the plastic waste problem.
Hello everyone! I'm in Valparaiso, Indiana, with an informal community group called ValpoHacks. We're in the research stage for creating a community makerspace, and one of our main projects will be to recycle waste from 3D printers (so starting with just PLA) into usable filament.
hello! i live in louisville, ky but just dropping by in case any folks near by want to connect. I worked on v4 and can build machines. if you're looking for any help/input feel free to reach out!
adamj537
Hello everyone! I'm in Valparaiso, Indiana, with an informal community group called ValpoHacks. We're in the research stage for creating a community makerspace, and one of our main projects will be to recycle waste from 3D printers (so starting with just PLA) into usable filament.
Hello! New here and very interested in learning. Thinking this might be something I could really sink my teeth into, but no clue about startup costs or funding. Just soaking up info at this point.
Nicalexico
Hello! New here and very interested in learning. Thinking this might be something I could really sink my teeth into, but no clue about startup costs or funding. Just soaking up info at this point.
You might find this useful:
https://preciousplastic.com/solutions/business-tools.html
I haven't taken the dive yet either but they have some useful tools for the business side on their website in addition to estimated cost-to-build on the machine plans.
Best of luck!
Discover Precious Plastic business tools that help people turn their recycling passion into a successfull business.
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pufffrosty
You might find this useful:
https://preciousplastic.com/solutions/business-tools.html
I haven't taken the dive yet either but they have some useful tools for the business side on their website in addition to estimated cost-to-build on the machine plans.
Best of luck!
Hi everyone! Got an update. We're now a 501(c)3 organization called Vidette Makes, operating out of Valparaiso, Indiana.
adamj537
Hello everyone! I'm in Valparaiso, Indiana, with an informal community group called ValpoHacks. We're in the research stage for creating a community makerspace, and one of our main projects will be to recycle waste from 3D printers (so starting with just PLA) into usable filament.
We do! We have two plastic tubs with PLA waste. A local small business in town here (they have 100+ 3D printers) might also have some PLA waste to give away too: https://www.madeinurbana.com/
Normally I'd invite you and any other maker members into the Fab Lab for a tour. Due to Covid restrictions however we still aren't allowing the general public into the lab. We are part of the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana, and we have to go by their rules. Hopefully soon we'll be back to normal, or at least on a vaccination case basis!
Hi everyone! I'm so excited to see all the plastic recycling efforts happening in Indiana! I work with reTHink, Inc. in Terre Haute where we've established a plastic recycling workspace using the Precious Plastic machines. We sort, shred, and reform PLA, PE, PP, and PS to make beams, bricks, sheets, and tiles. We'll also be opening up a workshop series for K-12 students soon. I just wanted to say hello and let others know what we're up to. We're happy to help if anyone is just getting started and hope to learn from what everyone else is doing!
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Indernatur9000
Normally I'd invite you and any other maker members into the Fab Lab for a tour. Due to Covid restrictions however we still aren't allowing the general public into the lab. We are part of the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana, and we have to go by their rules. Hopefully soon we'll be back to normal, or at least on a vaccination case basis!
Hey! Thanks for patience with my response. No worried about covid protocol. Valparaiso University, which we collaborated with, has similar restrictions.
7:44 PM
@Indernatur9000 what's the dimensions of the tubs of PLA waste? Maybe I could take a weekend trip and pick them up.
rbercich
Hi everyone! I'm so excited to see all the plastic recycling efforts happening in Indiana! I work with reTHink, Inc. in Terre Haute where we've established a plastic recycling workspace using the Precious Plastic machines. We sort, shred, and reform PLA, PE, PP, and PS to make beams, bricks, sheets, and tiles. We'll also be opening up a workshop series for K-12 students soon. I just wanted to say hello and let others know what we're up to. We're happy to help if anyone is just getting started and hope to learn from what everyone else is doing!
@rbercich I'd love to learn more about reTHink, Inc.! Looks like your group is similar to what our organization wants to become. DM me? Maybe we could set up a call or visit?(edited)
adamj537
@Indernatur9000 what's the dimensions of the tubs of PLA waste? Maybe I could take a weekend trip and pick them up.
Standard plastic tub size? Mostly white, gray, & black. We have another in the basement, but I just investigated it and I think it's ABS, not PLA. Are you folks only interested in PLA?
Cool! My wife and I are looking at our calendar to see when we could pick it up. I also contacted Made In Urbana, and they've got stuff for us too. So thanks for that connection!
adamj537
Cool! My wife and I are looking at our calendar to see when we could pick it up. I also contacted Made In Urbana, and they've got stuff for us too. So thanks for that connection!
Vidette Makes (a maker group that also has Precious Plastic machines) did a demo this morning at the Earth Day event at the Porter County Expo center. We had an extrusion machine and a spooling machine, and attempted to make recycled filament for 3D printers.
1:26 AM
We failed to make filament, but had great conversations about recycling plastic
Long overdue update. I'm in the process of developing an educational version of the Precious Plastic machines.
The concept emphasizes portability, manufacturability, and safety. The first version is an extrusion machine that splits into two pieces, can be moved by a single person. Second machine will be a shredder module that mates with the same motor.
6:41 PM
Our local university has accepted this as a senior design project, and the student team started work about a month ago. It's a two-semester project, with a lot of the building done in the 2nd semester.
6:42 PM
Also, the university has a great relationship with our maker group, so they've approved two additional senior design projects with us as the customer.
I'm part of a group called Vidette Makes (videttemakes.org). We're very close to Valparaiso University in Northwest Indiana.
6:45 PM
Our second project is an effort to sort mixed shredded plastic. We've got the support of a chemistry professor who studies microplastics, and a local injection molding company that generates mixed plastic flakes from their machine shop.
Interesting, I started with a recreator3d pulltrusion machine. I’d like to create a filatruder eventually, I’m curious where this partnership with prusa is going to go
benebean
Interesting, I started with a recreator3d pulltrusion machine. I’d like to create a filatruder eventually, I’m curious where this partnership with prusa is going to go
You might be interested in our previous senior design project, which had the goal of converting recycled plastic to filament. The student team produced the first version of our extruder (which is being redesigned this year) as well as a spooling machine.
7:18 PM
They were able to make filament that was not quite thick enough to match their commercial sample. In theory the machine works, but it is very manual. A software control loop would need to be added to make it viable.
I'm heavy into further developing the PET pultrusion system. Since the majority of the bottle can't be pultruded, a side project is printing directly from shredded PET. Admittedly more challenging than pellets due the angular nature of the shreddings.
Green Ellipsis
I'm heavy into further developing the PET pultrusion system. Since the majority of the bottle can't be pultruded, a side project is printing directly from shredded PET. Admittedly more challenging than pellets due the angular nature of the shreddings.
In the code repo, the "Extruder" folder is the code for our extruder. The "Spooler" folder is the code for the spooling machine. "Motor" is an example sketch for the extruder's DC motor driver. "Encoder" is test code for the extruder's rotary encoder. "mega_controlled" is legacy code from when the extruder and spooler were combined into one machine. "nano_diameter" is experimental code for the spooler to measure the diameter of the filament, which is a prerequisite for a software control loop that would automate the spooler.(edited)
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4:45 AM
The electrical and mechanical files need some more explanation.
adamj537
In the code repo, the "Extruder" folder is the code for our extruder. The "Spooler" folder is the code for the spooling machine. "Motor" is an example sketch for the extruder's DC motor driver. "Encoder" is test code for the extruder's rotary encoder. "mega_controlled" is legacy code from when the extruder and spooler were combined into one machine. "nano_diameter" is experimental code for the spooler to measure the diameter of the filament, which is a prerequisite for a software control loop that would automate the spooler. (edited)
Our original concept was to shred 3D prints, mix that with virgin material, and spool that back into filament. In practice, that process involves variables that need to be controlled more tightly than we were prepared for.
5:21 AM
Right now, we don't have a shredder (one is getting designed by one of our sponsored senior design projects), so I've been collecting waste plastic to shred.
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5:22 AM
For the demos we've done so far, I've used some virgin pellets, and some shredded PLA that I made with the help of a local injection molding company's shredder.
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