28 May Why a filament extruder is the best way to experiment with materials

A domestic extruder simplifies material management and offers new possibilities for creative experiments: here are the main advantages.

All 3D printing enthusiasts know that one of the key points for every print is choosing the filament. There are many option available: brands, materials, prices, colors are all factors to be carefully considered. The market offers a lot of choices, but finding the “right” one is often a far from simple task.

In case you cannot find a satisfactory product in terms of type, color or characteristics, one of the simplest solutions can be to create the filament by yourself with a domestic extruder. This leaves you completely free to experiment.

Today, home extrusion systems allow you to get a filament of almost industrial quality, and the extrusion process, once learned, is quite simple and quick. The advantages of such a choice are several:

Customize your filament

A filament extruder allows you to precisely control all the characteristics of material you are creating: Felfil System, for example, is equipped with nozzles of different sizes and automatic sensors that guarantee the consistency of the filament.

The system also allows you to combine materials, additives and other compounds to obtain completely new and experimental filament. This is a useful possibility both for the enthusiast who wants to create an innovative print, and – above all – in the field of experimental research.

For example, in the past few months we have been printing with a filament created with PLA and dried orange peel powder!

Fast workflow

One of the main selling points of domestic filament extruders is that the production process is entirely under the control of the user. This means that they have the possibility to extrude the material only when needed, and only for the necessary quantity.

So, it is no longer necessary to wait for the shipment. Moreover, prinitng waste is reduced and, finally, that you are sure of the storage conditions of the material you use.

Convenience and sustainability

Finally, printing with a homemade filament allows you to save on the cost of materials and above all to make 3D printing more sustainable, since it is possible to use both industrial pellets and previous chopped and recycled 3D prints as base material.

Obviously, once the cost of the extrusion system is considered, the savings increase proportionally to the quantity of prints made.

These are some of the main advantages of a home extruder. For more information contact us, we are more than happy to help!