X3uder - OS 12VDC RepRap Filament extruder by mirox3m

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Update 17.01.2014 - 10mm higher guide and FAN stand
X3uder is a RepRap inspired 12VDC Filament extruder. It is designed so that most parts are printable and readily available in hardware stores. The X3uder is powered by a RepRap controller and 12 VDC power supply that every user has with his 3D printer. It uses 2 x 40 watt 12 volt heating cartridges. The motor consumes between 0.5 and 3 amps, so the typical 15 amp power supply is good enough.
Design is based on different ideas from Lyman's, Filastruder and Filabot extruders.
The idea with this Filament Extruder is that when a user needs to produce some filament, he replaces the cables of his 3D printer heater output and thermistor input, connects 12vdc via a switch to the fan and motor. In this way there is no need for additional PID controllers and power supplies.
Filament production results
Production rate - 18 to 34 cm per minute of 3mm filament (depending on the plastics you are using and the extruding temperature). My tests show that 1 kg of filament is produced for about 10-12 hours.
Filament diameter tolerance - +/- 0.05 is achievable, but usually it is 0.07.
I haven't tested with 1.75 mm filament production.
List of editable TinkerCAD models (ungroup if necessary):
Guide/FAN stand: https://tinkercad.com/things/8mEPBDgOWQd-guidefan-stand
Hopper for 20 mm OD barrel: https://tinkercad.com/things/jkFueJEPnRY-hopper-for-20mm-barrel
Motor plate: https://tinkercad.com/things/2YYIrt0b9gF-motor-plate
Bearing plate: https://tinkercad.com/things/dBZ4dtmkxcm-bearing-plate
Filament guide: https://tinkercad.com/things/fX7BdZS2nqC-filament-guide
I am using it with a Melzi board. RAMPS MOSFETs seems to be OK too, but make sure to check that their extruder output is capable of supplying the necessary power!
Here is a video demo of my X3uder: http://youtu.be/fFSQqvtYaDw
If you appreciate my work you can PayPal Donate to https://www.paypal.me/mirox3m
Natural ABS plastic pellets
The natural ABS plastic pellets that I use are produced by LG Chem and sold in packages of 25 kg that cost 82.70 Euro (20% VAT included) - 3.3 Euro per kg (4.7 US$) !!!
The pellets are LG HF380 with MFR 43 g/10 min (220C/10kg) datasheet: http://catalog.ides.com/Datasheet.aspx?I=26793&E=15166
You can buy them from http://www.resinex.com/ if there is an office nearby - they have offices in 31 European countries.