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)

  • cynar@lemmy.worldEnglish
    15·
    10 months ago

    It was tried, quite extensively, early on in the reprap movement. No-one managed to get it working reliably. The issue is that the pellets don’t feed consistently enough. This means the flow is inconsistent. This massively messes with the quality of the print.

    There are theoretical ways to compensate. Unfortunately, most result in a huge jump in complexity and weight on the head. Neither is a good thing.

    Basically. The benefits aren’t generally with the costs, outside of a few, very niche areas. It’s also now easier to source filament most places, compared to pellets. So even that isn’t a game changer.

  • marcos@lemmy.worldEnglish
    2·
    10 months ago

    You want to minimize wight and vibration on the printing head. And everything that deals with pellets adds a great deal of both.

    In theory you can manage to melt the pellets in a static machine away from the printing head. But you will get a lot of new problems getting it where you need and switching it on and off as needed.

    • roofuskit@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      10 months ago

      Pellet feeders are not meant for high speed machines. Pellet feeders are for large format machines where the speed comes from the volume of filament they can extrude while printing.

      • marcos@lemmy.worldEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Ok. That is a very compelling use case. I guess over some size they become a non-brainier.