On 3D Printing » Filabot

Originally conceived as a Kickstarter project by Tyler McNaney, a 20-year-old mechanical engineering student at Vermont Technical College, the startup raised over $32,000 to develop its first product.

Many 3D printers use commercial grade plastic filament to make objects. The MakerBot Replicator 2X, for example, uses requires thermoplastic ABS. This plastic isn’t cheap, and critics of 3D printing suggest that all of this plastic is not good for the environment.

Well, Filabot has the answer to make 3D printing a bit more eco-friendly. With a Filabot Reclaimer, one can deposit recyclable plastic into the machine and end up with 3D printing grade plastic filament.

Here is an overview from the Filabot shop.

The Filabot is the revolutionary system that can turn recyclable plastic into usable filament for 3D printing. This system creates a closed loop recycling environment. Filabot allows for the ultimate personal factory, giving greater control over what type of plastic material to use.

The Filabot Reclaimer, is our flagship system, that allows for the already innovative 3D printing movement, to become more self sufficient, experiment with new materials, and recycle bad prints.

The Filabot Reclaimer includes the grinding, extruding, and spooling systems. The Grinder will tear up bottles and can handle up to a good 3in by 3in chunk of plastic. Material from the grinder can either be stockpiled or fed directly into the extruder. From there the extruder will melt and pressurize the molten plastic to push it thought the interchangeable dies. There are two dies included with the Filabot Reclaimer, a 3mm and 1.75mm, depending on the filament size needed. The spool system will automatically roll the filament onto a spool after cooling and sizing.

And below is a video of the Filabot system.

Photo by Filabot/Whitney Trudo.