Filabot recycles plastic for 3D printing

(Credit: Whitney Trudo/Rocknail Specialties)

A common criticism of 3D printing is this: how much more plastic junk do we need in this world?

Filabot, a Kickstarted device that turns household and printed plastic into printable filament, might have the answer.

The brainchild of Tyler McNaney, a 20 year-old sophomore mechanical engineering student at Vermont Technical College, the Filabot takes common plastic, including plastic from 3D printed objects, and grinds, melts, and re-extrudes it back into printable feedstock.

McNaney developed the Filabot with the help of a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised just over $32,000 when it ended in January of last year. He then spent the rest of 2012 refining the design and bringing the Filabot to a shippable state. McNaney and his company, Vermont-based Rocknail Specialties, are currently working on the first batch of Filabot units to ship out to Kickstarter backers, after which McNaney says they will begin work on an updated model for general consumers.

The basic idea behind the Filabot.

(Credit: Rocknail Specialties)

Essentially a combination of a grinder and an extruder, the flagship Filabot Recl... [Read more]





by Rich Brown via CNET