I have just got off the phone from a company that recycles plastics in the UK. They can supply bags (say 25kg) of ABS granules at a price that looks quite good compared to getting the filament from the US and shipping it. Currently natural ABS is about https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14695#msg-14695 Mon, 07 Sep 2026 08:59:39 -0400 Phorum 5.2.23 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15385#msg-15385 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15385#msg-15385 > My Dad & i were discussing ways to reduce FFF
> warping. he came up with the idea of welding lots
> of little spheres together by surface melt, not
> total melt. This means the thermal expansion is
> limited to the skin, not the volume.
>
> We couldnt think of a good way to heat just the
> skins though, especially in 0.2mm size grains.
>
> Microwaves?

I think that could work. Last I knew, ham radio operators could easily find 10 GHz equipment. Look at the Wikipedia entry on "skin depth", particularly the log-log graph in the "Examples" section. At 10 GHz you should have a good range of metals with skin depths well under 0.2 mm. Google search for "10 GHz" and "ham" and you might find information about the kind of equipment that's available.]]> wware Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 04 Aug 2008 22:42:54 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15379#msg-15379 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15379#msg-15379 -------------------------------------------------------
> My Dad & i were discussing ways to reduce FFF
> warping. he came up with the idea of welding lots
> of little spheres together by surface melt, not
> total melt. This means the thermal expansion is
> limited to the skin, not the volume.
>
> We couldnt think of a good way to heat just the
> skins though, especially in 0.2mm size grains.
>
> Microwaves?


This sounds similar to sintering, but certainly not the same process. Borrowing from that idea though, I suppose you could embed the granules in some sort of filler material that kept its shape while you melted the surface?

I don't know...]]> Kyle Corbitt Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:29:16 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15378#msg-15378 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15378#msg-15378
We couldnt think of a good way to heat just the skins though, especially in 0.2mm size grains.

Microwaves?]]> Lampbus Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:24:45 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15371#msg-15371 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15371#msg-15371 Ru Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 04 Aug 2008 17:50:47 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15341#msg-15341 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15341#msg-15341
So you haven't to remelt the balls, but simply heat a small zone on the base and pick-n-place the balls into the molten area.

With smaller spheres (e.g. 1mm diameter or even smaller) you should have a finer granulity and with short over-heating the actual fabbed surface you can weld the spheres together and apply a smooth surface-finish ...

Viktor]]> VDX Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 04 Aug 2008 07:47:45 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15336#msg-15336 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15336#msg-15336 xsainnz Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 04 Aug 2008 05:49:55 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15333#msg-15333 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,15333#msg-15333 Korndog Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 04 Aug 2008 04:10:19 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14770#msg-14770 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14770#msg-14770 nophead Plastic Extruder Working Group Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:41:25 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14769#msg-14769 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14769#msg-14769
[www.newimageplastic.com]

Their prices for ABS are a bit higher than Village and their lead times for small specialty orders can be a bit long in that they don't keep much stock. Their quality is good, however.]]> Forrest Higgs Plastic Extruder Working Group Tue, 22 Jul 2008 16:09:48 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14768#msg-14768 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14768#msg-14768 nophead Plastic Extruder Working Group Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:19:14 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14767#msg-14767 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14767#msg-14767
That's basically double to a bit more than double what it costs in the States. :(]]> Forrest Higgs Plastic Extruder Working Group Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:38:03 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14765#msg-14765 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14765#msg-14765 one pound sterling is about two dollars,

so 1kg ABS is about 28 US$
that's 12.70 $/lb
for 5lb that's 63,50 $ compared to 45$ at the rrrf store.

1kg HDPE is about 15.28 US$
that's 6.93 $/lb
for 5lb that's 34.65 $ compared to 25$ at the rrf store

'sid]]> sid Plastic Extruder Working Group Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:59:57 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14763#msg-14763 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14763#msg-14763 Forrest Higgs Plastic Extruder Working Group Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:20:32 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14761#msg-14761 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14761#msg-14761 nophead Plastic Extruder Working Group Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:05:35 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14757#msg-14757 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14757#msg-14757
> We can do 2kg coils of ABS, natural colour.
>
> The price would be ]]> davidgoodenough Plastic Extruder Working Group Tue, 22 Jul 2008 12:22:12 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14717#msg-14717 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14717#msg-14717 -------------------------------------------------------
>
> They don't list ABS as a format that they sell,
> but they do talk about it. They do larger reels,
> but not in 3mm. I have sent them an email to find
> out whether they can do ABS as well. And we can
> get it in multiple colours.
>
Reading your link it sure looks like they offer 3 mm ABS. 3 mm is a very common size for plastic welding rod.]]> Forrest Higgs Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 21 Jul 2008 17:18:35 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14716#msg-14716 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14716#msg-14716
[www.tempatron.co.uk]

They don't list ABS as a format that they sell, but they do talk about it. They do larger reels, but not in 3mm. I have sent them an email to find out whether they can do ABS as well. And we can get it in multiple colours.

David]]> davidgoodenough Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:59:06 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14713#msg-14713 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14713#msg-14713 ErikDeBruijn Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 21 Jul 2008 16:11:02 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14699#msg-14699 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14699#msg-14699 -------------------------------------------------------
> No, I am not looking to buy a new one
>

I posted the link mostly to give you an idea of what pieces of machinery besides the extruder itself make a monofilament production system, not to suggest that you buy that one (it isn't new, btw)

Sorry, I should have said a bit more when I posted earlier. (:P)]]> Forrest Higgs Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:50:14 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14698#msg-14698 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14698#msg-14698
David]]> davidgoodenough Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:31:29 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14696#msg-14696 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14696#msg-14696
[www.waynemachine.com]]]> Forrest Higgs Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 21 Jul 2008 09:54:22 -0400 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14695#msg-14695 https://reprap.org/forum/read.php?70,14695,14695#msg-14695
They can supply bags (say 25kg) of ABS granules at a price that looks quite good compared to getting the filament from the US and shipping it. Currently natural ABS is about ]]> davidgoodenough Plastic Extruder Working Group Mon, 21 Jul 2008 07:15:42 -0400