Filabot is one of the very few manufacturers of desktop filament production equipment.
Anyone operating a FFF 3D printer dreams of a way to convert 3D print scraps back into usable filament, but it turns out doing so is very complex and difficult to achieve. That’s why no inexpensive filament production systems exist, and why there are only a few companies that offer such equipment.
Vermont-based Filabot started operations way back in 2011. Today they offer multiple models of extrusion equipment and associated gear.
Unlike their major competitor, 3DEVO, which attempts to put all functions in a single frame, Filabot takes a more modular approach. Filament production involves several stages, and their range of equipment allows buyers to configure systems that work in an optimal manner for the situation.
To understand Filabot’s product line, you must first understand the stages of filament production:
- Pelletizing: making input material, which could be scraps, filament or basically anything, has to be reduced to a uniform size for subsequent extrusion. Sometimes this includes drying the input materials.
- Extrusion: Heating the reclaimed pellets to softening temperature and extruding a thread of filament. Sometimes this stage involves mixing in colours from a masterbatch.
- Measurement: Extrusions must be very precisely measured to ensure they have the proper diameter and roundness, with feedback controlling the speed and temperature of the extruder.
- Cooling: the filament, properly extruded, must then be cooled at a precise rate to maintain its diameter and roundness. This can be done with either air or water cooling.
- Spooling: the resulting filament has to be taken up on a spool. Sometimes large spools are first obtained, and then later fed off onto smaller, precisely weighed spools.
- Drying: If the filament was cooled with a water bath it must be cooled before packaging.
Filabot offers modules that do all of these things, allowing buyers to configure a system that does exactly what they require. For example, if the goal was to produce pellets, then there is a module that can chop thick filament into uniform pellets at the end of the production line.
You can also choose between an air cooler or a water cooling path. There are modules to shred large parts, and others to produce pellet-sized material.
It’s quite impressive to look through all of Filabot’s products and realize there are countless combinations of modules that can be created.
However, Filabot does simplify the matter by offering “bundles” of commonly combined elements. For example, the “Full Recycling Setup” bundle includes a reclaimer, extruder, air path, spooler, and pelletizer, all for under US$20,000.
Their least expensive configuration is the EX2 Extruder Setup, which includes an extruder, air path, and spooler for US$7200.
At those prices, these are not devices for hobbyists. Instead, this equipment is really for those requiring specialized filament that cannot be purchased, or those who are experimenting with unique materials that they don’t want others to see. For a product manufacturer, this could be a competitive advantage: using your own secret materials.
If you’re in an organization that requires unique filament that’s not for sale, then this is the type of equipment you will need. If you have some 3D print scraps you’d like to recycle, this probably isn’t financially feasible for you.
Via Filabot
