Filament Extruders

[johnr]

Hey guys, I just wanted to do a quick post about filament extruders. What is the cheapest ones you guys have seen yet? Thanks.

[insta]

Filastruder ... don't go cheaper. It's already stripped pretty bare bones, and it works well enough. Get the winder if you are wanting to do PLA.

I have a filastruder, filawinder, and like 10-15lbs of PLA pellets that I just don't have time to run. It's got maybe 40 hours on it ... send me a PM with an offer if you're interested in the lot.

[rsilvers]

I don't get the filament extruder thing. PLA is $12.99 per KG from China (or $22 from Amazon with Prime shipping), not $40-$50 a roll as the filament-extrider companies claim. ABS is $17. It is so transparently bogus that they only use the most expensive Makerbot filament for their cost comparison.

PLA pellets are $6.75 per KG.

So for each KG you extrude, you are saving only $6.

You have to babysit the thing for 12 hours to make a roll. So even if you consider being paid $6 to babysit a machine for 12 hours worth it, you would merely break even.

Then there is the cost of the machine. $300. Besides being able to buy 25 rolls of PLA for that, you also have to take hours to assemble it.

Then you need to dry your filament.

It is not only not a win, but it is a huge loss.

I can think of one use - to make custom blends for R&D purposes.

[insta]

I don't get the filament extruder thing. PLA is $12.99 per KG from China (or $22 from Amazon with Prime shipping), not $40-$50 a roll as the filament-extrider companies claim. ABS is $17. It is so transparently bogus that they only use the most expensive Makerbot filament for their cost comparison.

PLA pellets are $6.75 per KG.

So for each KG you extrude, you are saving only $6.

You have to babysit the thing for 12 hours to make a roll. So even if you consider being paid $6 to babysit a machine for 12 hours worth it, you would merely break even.

Then there is the cost of the machine. $300. Besides being able to buy 25 rolls of PLA for that, you also have to take hours to assemble it.

Then you need to dry your filament.

It is not only not a win, but it is a huge loss.

I can think of one use - to make custom blends for R&D purposes.

quiet you i'm trying to sell mine

[rsilvers]

They are great because you can make custom-blended colors and even change the color mid-roll.

[johnr]

So, what do you guys think? Is it worth it to buy a filament extruder?

[Matt_Sharkey]

Much of what Silvers said is credible, but only consider what you want it for. looking at the costs you can justify it yourself.

I may be on the market for a setup, not for profit but for education. I want to get my classrooms 3D program to be 100% PET recycled. Yeah i know that recycled PET isnt as strong as virgin PET and the cost is hard to justify, but it's a cool program to teach students with.

Crunch the numbers yourself and let the haters hate.

[johnr]

Thanks for your help guys, I think that I'll just do the regular. By the way, rsilvers, is the filament your getting good quality? Does it plug up the extruders? I used some other filament of amazon and it totally messed up the extruder. I had a horrible time trying to see if I could fix it. Now all I get is makergear's filament. If it is good quality, could you please tell me where I can buy it. Thanks.

[rsilvers]

I don't like unbranded filament as it seems more likely to change. I don't print Yodas and figurines but pretty much only do engineered parts. I want stability. So if I find a brand that works, I will stick with it until I have a reason not to - so I am fine with paying $22 to $32 per roll. I won't suddenly switch to $19 or $13 per roll unless I have a problem with what I am buying now.

$12.99 filament is probably better than what you could make at home. In fact, it is probably just a good as $22 filament but without the middleman.

I know Amazon eats into profits with their fees to vendors and I am sympathetic to that, so I am ok paying a few dollars more on Amazon than on eBay or direct because I feel secure knowing that Amazon comes in two days, remembers my payment info, and takes returns without grief.

My black roll of MakerGear filament has been perfect.

[insta]

I don't like unbranded filament as it seems more likely to change. I don't print Yodas and figurines but pretty much only do engineered parts. I want stability. So if I find a brand that works, I will stick with it until I have a reason not to - so I am fine with paying $22 to $32 per roll. I won't suddenly switch to $19 or $13 per roll unless I have a problem with what I am buying now.

$12.99 filament is probably better than what you could make at home. In fact, it is probably just a good as $22 filament but without the middleman.

I know Amazon eats into profits with their fees to vendors and I am sympathetic to that, so I am ok paying a few dollars more on Amazon than on eBay or direct because I feel secure knowing that Amazon comes in two days, remembers my payment info, and takes returns without grief.

My black roll of MakerGear filament has been perfect.

GIGO -- garbage in, garbage out. The BEST filament I used on my M2 was MG94 I extruded myself for $6/kg. Too bad it's getting really hard to find now.