filament dryer

thingiverse

Yet another filament dryer based on a food dryer... but this one is a bit different. Hygroscopic polymers like nylon or TPU need to be dried properly before printing. But few drying solutions make it possible to feed the filament while it's in the dryer (to prevent moisture uptake while printing) - and if so, then there's too much tension when unrolling, which causes issues with direct drive extruders or very soft TPUs. So my goal was to make a cheap dryer for at least 2 spools of super soft and super hygroscopic filaflex TPU. For minimal resistance, a center-pivot design seems to be best and since most food dryers as well as filament spools are round, a vertical-center-pivot-thingy almost suggested itself. Unfortunately there are a couple of things you need to buy first: 1x Food dryer (this mod is for the oneconcept bonsai: https://amzn.to/3hABgdk ) 4x M5*25 screws 4x V-slot wheels (that kind you can find on many CR10-type-of printers - you could also print some, I guess. There must be tons of stls for that here on thingiverse) 1x 3mm id PTFE tube (optional) 1x gasket for the PTFE tube (optional) Another downside is that some of the printed parts have to bear some weight while being in a hot environment. At max temp settings with covered outlets (to increase temp even more) this made the PETG parts warp while there was about 2kg of filament in the dryer (green parts in the gallery). So I made the base a bit thicker and printed the new design with ColorFabb's HT (black and small transparent parts) which is a copolyester similar to PETG but is able to withstand ~100°C. I hope that's enough; otherwise I have to make it in PC. (edit: HT is good enough. No deformation yet.) The big cylinder is supposed to be printed with a 1mm line width. PETG is good enough for that part and IIRC you can print it in vase mode (don't remember exactly why I didn't). To watch it spinning like a fidget-spinner, have a look at this clip: http://www.unwohlpol.at/owalona/R0000010.MOV