For you 3D printer fans


 
Kinda.

The real limitation with this tech is speed. It's really slow at this point, but it does help to 'close the loop' for 3D printing. The last part is a machine to grind plastic into granules compatible with the filament extruder. Then we'll have a fully closed-loop system and the prices of filament will start to come down to reasonable levels. Right now a pound of ABS is running @ $19 ($20 for PLA).

But there is always a catch.

No one has done a net energy or filament tolerance analysis of these machines yet (not that I've seen anyway). The energy consumed is non-trivial, and if the filament produced is out of spec (bad) or inconsistent (worse) will it be worth it?

There are a cone of other issues with this project as well, but at least it's a start!

On a side note...

There is a real possibility that you could run that filament extruder with a heatermeter instead of the industrial PID controller...just swap the blower out for an SSR and voila! Add PitDroid and you're in pretty good shape!

This cross-pollination that occurs with OSHW is awesome.
 
I agree with the HM as the PID, pretty cool.

From his posts:
"It took 16 hours to extrude 1 Kg of 1.75mm filament, but it only took 6 hours to extrude 3 lbs of 3mm filament which I use"

and total power consumptions is "According to BOM, band heater's consumption is 250W. Plus 24W(2Ax12V) motor consumption at full power.
Altogether: 250+24=274 W/h."

I pay $0.08/kWh so 16 hours would be about $0.35. I also read that they are measuring tolerances within 0.02mm.

I agree, it looks like a great start and should help reduce costs. Can you buy colored pellets?

dave
 
Dave, I think you can buy pre-colored. But I'm pretty sure you can buy natural and add a pigment.

I may have to build one of these...
 
Yeah reading about it on MAKE they say they made a nice uniform light red by adding 2% red pigmented pellets. It is pretty cool and to think I already thought the cost of producing small items was relatively cheap. Now I'm really beginning to want a 3D printer and I don't even have a place to put it. Especially because I already have a PID controller, threaded thermocouple, power supply, and electronics to make one of these. What's that take like $50 off the cost?
 
Tom Kole said:
They make and sell colored pellets:

http://makibox.com/pellets

This place also looks like they sell an extruder kit for $150, as well as pretty cheap 3d printers.

http://makibox.com/details/product/ramen_kit
Click to expand...

I actually funded the Makibox project and am looking forward to getting my 3d printer from them. I have been following the design from day one. The designer tried to build the pellet extruder directly into the Makibox, but there were logistical problems, which is why the ramen will be a separate piece. I imagine that once he has everything dialed in he can build it all in one unit for the next version.

The Makibox is a lot smaller than most other 3d printers on the market today, but the print size should be big enough for a HeaterMeter case. I will be sure to let you know once I get mine and have a chance to test it out for sure.

If anyone is interested you can see the Makibox videos here. http://www.youtube.com/user/jonbuford/videos?view=0&flow=grid
 
For $200 or so a makibox looks pretty good. Even if all you do is strip out the mechanicals and re-use them in another machine $200 is hard to beat.

C. Rodenius, did you get the heated bed? The case will just *barely* fit on the build platform, but it'll fit!
 
M Miller said:
For $200 or so a makibox looks pretty good. Even if all you do is strip out the mechanicals and re-use them in another machine $200 is hard to beat.

C. Rodenius, did you get the heated bed? The case will just *barely* fit on the build platform, but it'll fit!
Click to expand...

I always had in the back of my mind that I could use the Makibox A6 to build a larger printer if I really wanted to. I also would not be surprised if Makibox made it possible to use parts from the A6 to upgrade to a larger printer in the future. I did get the heated bed, but not the ramen extruder.
 
The output they're getting recently has been pretty decent compared to their initial attempts.

But I don't see why you couldn't print off a set of MendelMax parts with the makibox.

This is the beauty of reprap...self-replication. :)
 
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