Help us build a Filament Extruder!!

Hi folks,

Kushal from LayerInk here - my team and me are developing a filament extruder for home use. This extruder was born out of our own need to conveniently produce filament on-demand in quantities, various colors and compositions (ABS, PLA, Woodfill, etc.) as needed for our 3D Printing service bureau (www.insta3dprinting.com).

When we looked at the market we found that there weren’t any that offered a really good solution without making it inconvenient. So, we researched plastic processing technology, studied industrial extruders and worked with advanced fabrication tools to replicate Industrial plastic extrusion screws instead of using an off the shelf auger bit. These screws produce a better quality melt because they rely on mechanical shearing of the polymer to generate the heat needed to melt the polymer as against relying completely on external heat.

We are also working on an integrated product design, with automatic spooling, dimensional control and automatic control. So far we have tested the extruder with multiple materials including PLA, ABS, Wood composite, etc. and going forward we will test with Nylon, Flexible, Copper, Bronze and Brass filled filament and other ‘specialty filaments’.

Currently, we have prototypes up and running and are working on testing our extruded filament as well as packaging all the various modules into a sleek, tasteful and ergonomic exterior shell.

Please help us build a product that we hope will add to your 3D Printing experience. Below is a link to a brief survey that we promise will not take more than 5 minutes of your time. We kindly request that you submit just one response to this survey so that we have good data that will aid us in making this Filament Extruder a reality. All responses are confidential.

[goo.gl]

If you want to contribute more in any capacity, feel free to respond below or email me at kushal (at) layerink.com

Thank you for your time. Much appreciated!
Happy 3D Printing ☺

Best,
Kushal

Hi Kushal,

I am working like you on filament extruder projects, one is for (semi-) professional purposes and the other one is for home use. Both versions are still prototypes. The professional version has currenlty a calculated output of about a half ton of filament per day. It is a single-screw design but with an upgrade-option to a cascading design and has some optional features (currently in alpha status) like measuring the kg-amount of pellets in the compounder, measuring the moisture of the pellets and according to the measuring results it will start certain programs to preheat the pellets or starts and stops de-gassing automatically and of course it is measuring the filament diameter and sends you short messages or e-mails to your phone if the extruder stops working or misses you or the diameter is out of tolerance and last but not least 30% energy saving compared to standard extruders ...while the home version is a dual screw design and shares a few of the professional features but the status is currently on hold because we currently focus on the professional version and we tend to overrun our budget Optional pelletizers, puller, spooler and water cooling bath are also in prototype status. But I think the most interesting information i can give you is that we currently use standard auger bits for our both prototypes. Our ambitous goal is to make an extruder which you just turn on and it does everything for you, ...easy, fast, reliable.

It is not my intention to sound like a big mouth but competition is good for business and keeps the project motivation on a good level. How about we share pictures of our projects progresses here in this thread with the reprap community in the next weeks and months? The rule is just to upload pictures (anytime you want) but we don't have to explain functions or certain design aspects of our extruders. I think by this you would get more people interested in your (and my) project and more people fill out your survey or sharing their ideas and interests with you in this thread which is in my opinion better than a survey, because you keep closer contact with your target audience. Leave a message in this thread if you are interested.

Hi,

I absolutely agree that a survey does not replace direct conversation with the community. But given the stage we are at with our prototypes this seemed better. At this time we are not ready to share pictures simply because our prototypes are not in a presentable position and on the outside does not look very different from the filament extruders out there. Our main focus is convenience, versatility, reliability and dimension accuracy. Having said that, maybe in a month from now we will share some data, photos and videos. Will let you know when we go ahead with that.

Kushal

Funny Currently working on two version (lyman based) as well, one vey simple model and one more sophisticated. Both in the kg/hour and better range. Trying to decrease cost to an absolute minimum (seriously below the lyman usd600) and like with the lyman model using partly 3d printed parts. Including firmware and client software for control and audit trails. Almost finished with that. A simple pelletizer for leftover filament or bad runs or mixing the colors better is also working. No need to build a shredder for failed 3D prints as someone already build a fantastic one and published his designs.

Time to say goodbye to buying expensive filament and start making your own high quality cheap filament in whatever color you like

PS Forgot to say : all plans for the designs, software etc all that is needed to build them will be open source

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/27/2015 06:08PM by Frans@France.