"PullStruder" : how to make 3D printer filament from recycled plastic bottles

prusaprinters

<p>I saw on youtube a few videos of guys recycling plastic PET bottles into 3D printer filament spool.</p> <p>Finally I tried to make my own "pullstruder".</p> <p><a href="https://youtu.be/1_BWXhT5Y-I">https://youtu.be/1\_BWXhT5Y-I</a></p> <p>You will need :</p> <ul> <li>to put some pressure into a PET bottle (2 bar). This is optionnal</li> <li>hot gun the bottle to remove all the "carvings" and get an "almost cylinder" : (video 0:20)</li> <li>cut the bottle into a ribbon : (video 1:35) . Plans for a really good "roller cutter" are here : <a href="https://davehakkens.nl/community/foru">https://davehakkens.nl/community/foru</a>...</li> <li>you can make "cheaper" one but not as good with a simple cutter blade</li> <li>build an extruder. For this first prototype, I simply drilled a cylinder of aluminium à 1.75mm diameter. - Then I made a conical shape from 1.75mm to 10mm. So that the filament can enter the hotend and is progressively curved to 1.75mm.<br/> to produce heat I simply used a cheap chineese PID controler equiped with a thermocouple sensor<br/> <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32431">https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32431</a>...</li> <li><p>the PID is controlling a ceramic band heater : <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32999">https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32999</a>... Then I designed a winder using an old wiper motor. You will need really a lot of torque to pull the ribbon. A strong and well reducted motor is a MUST...</p> <p>Finally I successfully "pullstruded" my first filament. One bottle produces 6m of PET filament. (video 3:12)<br/> And I tried to print with this filament the gear to adapt the wiper motor to this winder !<br/> The temperature to print must be high enough. After several failures I got a working set point at 260°C<br/> The printed part adheres very well to the bed at PETG temperature (90°C).<br/> Apart for the filament temperature, the settings are the same as regular PETG.<br/> [update] = better results got with 270°C temperature. see specs here <a href="https://juggerbot3d.com/pet-filament-review/">https://juggerbot3d.com/pet-filament-review/</a><br/> The batman's batarang was printed with this setting. Much more "glossy" print.</p> <p>Now for the width of the ribbon... Here is what I did :<br/> considering that a 1.75mm filament as a section of 2.4mm square<br/> considering that my bottle has a thickness of 0.25mm, then the width should be 2.4/.25 = 9.6mm<br/> I tuned my roller cutter to get (almost) this width, and you can see the result in this video !</p> <p>With a hole of 1.75mm the filament when pulled has a kind of oval shape and U shape... It is 2mm wide by 1.5mm. It turns out that 2mm is not a problem for my Prusa Mk2S :-)<br/> And I believe that the section is close enough to 2.4mm^2 as the printed result is not that bad.</p> <p>Still some improvement to be done but for a first attempt I am quite satisfied !</p> <h3>Print Settings</h3> </li> </ul> <p><strong>Printer Brand:</strong></p> <p>Prusa</p> <p><p class="detail-setting printer"><strong>Printer: </strong> <div><p>i3 MK2S</p></div><strong>Rafts:</strong></p> <p>No</p> <p><p class="detail-setting supports"><strong>Supports: </strong> <div><p>No</p></div><strong>Resolution:</strong></p> <p>200</p> <p><p class="detail-setting infill"><strong>Infill: </strong> <div><p>38</p></div><br/> <strong>Filament:</strong><br/> no brand PLA or PETG <br/> <p class="detail-setting notes"><strong>Notes: </strong> </p><div><p>print the small gear 100% infill</p></div></p> </p></p></p> Category: 3D Printer Extruders