New Filament Extruder Help

Hi All,

So I've got a Filastuder to make my own filament but it's way too slow for my liking. Generally it has taken 8 hours + to make a single kg of filament so I'm in the process of making a much faster extruder. The aim of the extruder is to use a custom made 20mm extrusion screw to make filament at around 2 to 5kg per hour. With this in mind has anyone had any experience with making a machine like this? The main parts I am looking for help with is the design of a die for the extruder and the cooling/sizing of the filament after it is extruded.

Thanks all

The lyman is twice as fast

Yes the Lyman is twice as fast s the Filastuder but still too slow for the amount of filament I have been going through lately plus looking for something more exacting then a thrown together extruder using an inexact drill bit.

Thanks

You might visit the lyman again and read the design files as an auger design (non drill bit) is included. Otherwise you could also buy the usd 630 filabot feed screw.

However and if wrong I'm sure others will correct me, the auger is not about speed but about filament diameter consistency. It's rather easy to get the lyman (or any other filament extruder) to do 1kg/hour or faster just throw in a more powerful motor.

PS For the record, I have a lyman (heavily modified) doing 1kg 3mm ABS in 54min and that is not really pushing it yet. However all my research is concentrated on improving the diameter consistency which is the hardest part at these speeds. Currently around +/- 0.20mm

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/23/2015 09:04AM by Frans@France.

I had not looked at the Lyman extruder for quite a while so it looks like there is a new one out, I'll have to give it a decent look over but by the looks you are correct and it uses a more typical design of an extruder auger and it looks a lot closer to the design I am getting made in China atm but is missing a few of the more standard features of industrial machines that help to keep the flow more consistent and hence easier to help the consistency. Cheers for the info though

Quote
Frans@France
However and if wrong I'm sure others will correct me, the auger is not about speed but about filament diameter consistency. It's rather easy to get the lyman (or any other filament extruder) to do 1kg/hour or faster just throw in a more powerful motor.

That isn't true at all. Filastruder uses an off the shelf auger bit and users report +/-0.01mm.

Quote
greenman100

Quote
Frans@France
However and if wrong I'm sure others will correct me, the auger is not about speed but about filament diameter consistency. It's rather easy to get the lyman (or any other filament extruder) to do 1kg/hour or faster just throw in a more powerful motor.

That isn't true at all. Filastruder uses an off the shelf auger bit and users report +/-0.01mm.

but at a rather slow extrusion speed, when that speed is increased users report more fluctuation.

Faster than any 3D printer on the market can consume it.

Quote
greenman100
Faster than any 3D printer on the market can consume it.

Yes but what about in situations where you are running more then one printer 24/7 or have a deadline you need to meet but do not have filament in the required material or colour? In these situations the filastuder and similar are too slow to produce the required amount of filament or too inaccurate when the speed is increased. I've been using the filastruder with the filawinder and even that is still only +-0.1mm at best when a whole roll is sent through the laser micrometer at the default speed and with predried resin etc.