this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2024
46 points (96.0% liked)

3DPrinting

15463 readers
540 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: !functionalprint@kbin.social or !functionalprint@fedia.io

There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml

Rules

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

I saw a 3d printer using plastic pellets instead of filament.

Is this a good idea? Because I never saw anyone doing this.

Seller says "in this way it won't run out of filament" but I have the impression of imprecise extrusions (machine was fitted with a big 0.8mm nozzle)

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 11 points 5 days ago (1 children)

There are downsides as well. High throughput pellet feeding hot ends are insanely expensive. But there are practical issues as well, retraction can be really tough to dial in.

[–] Dkarma@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago (3 children)

This was my first question how the hell do you do retraction???

[–] Damage@feddit.it 1 points 2 days ago

Do you need to? If you put a valve on the nozzle, then you can stop flow even more reliably than retraction does

[–] dual_sport_dork@lemmy.world 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

A little vacuum pump, like a carburetor on a motorcycle from the 70's? Hell if I know, but that's my idea.

[–] evidences@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago

I mean the same way, retraction isn't pulling the molten filament out of the nozzle in FDM so I'm either filament or peeler based extrusion you just run it in reverse briefly.