Maker creates a DIY extruder using common parts that can be found on any workbench.
What’s a 3D printer without filament, right? In an effort to reduce the costs typically associated with purchasing new materials, Dinçer Hepgüler recently decided to devise his own homemade extruder using parts that were readily available throughout his workshed.
In order to bring his DIY Filastruder to life, the Maker employed a metal body that contains the screw mechanism to extrude the substrate, two cartridge heaters, a 100k thermistor, a IRLZ44 MOSFET, an optional 16×2 LCD and any Atmel based Arduino. The device was driven by a powerful stepper motor, however Borsaci notes that even a household drill can drive the system for few hours.
To help ease the process, Borsaci created a CAD model detailing the parts that are required to construct the Filastruder. How it works is relatively simple: The plastic pellets go into a feeding cone that loads them into the heating element that melts the plastic. The stepper motor rotates a screw-shaped barrel, which in turn, forces the melted plastic out to the extruder nozzle forming the new filament.
“The radius of output filament can be monitored by a sensor for accuracy, but I do not think I will need that as long as the shaft is driven at constant speed. As for the heating control, I decided to use the same ceramic 12v heaters and 100k thermistors used in RepRap printer extruders (actually there will be more than one on the front end around nozzle),” Borsaci notes.
Interested? Head over to the project’s official Instructables page to learn more.
Atmel | Bits & Pieces 
Reblogged this on Brian By Experience.
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