printing with weed trimmer line
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printing with weed trimmer line
Posted by galaxyman7
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galaxyman7
printing with weed trimmer line
March 21, 2013 01:42PM
Registered: 16 years ago
Posts: 198
Hey guys
I have been gone for a while because of school but I just wanted to check if anyone has tried printing with weed trimmer line as per the instructions I wrote here:
[www.reprap.org]
It would be cool to see how far people have gone with it (if any)
I have been printing using this method for quite a while and it is suprisingly reliable and fairly easy to set up
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Simba
Re: printing with weed trimmer line
March 21, 2013 03:21PM
Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 482
Yes, it pops and crackles, but it works.
However, It has now been proven to give off cyanide gas at around 0.1 PPM levels. It is because of contaminants in the weedwhacker (it isn't meant for this purpose!). IT isn't deadly dangerous by a long shot, but I don't wanna be exposed to it.
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REPRAP SQUAD
Re: printing with weed trimmer line
March 21, 2013 11:12PM
Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 381
Do you have any pictures of printed objects with weedwacker line. And what kind, size, etc and some pics of the package. Thanks
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Dirty Steve
Re: printing with weed trimmer line
March 22, 2013 12:09AM
Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 560
I've printed with it. Oven baked eliminated crackle and pop.
It does warp EXCESSIVELY. Smaller parts are usable, large parts lift alot. I've been running a trimmer line stepper gear on my extruder for 4 months now, looks like almost no wear at all. It meshes with an ABS hobbed bolt gear that is showing typical wear.
0.65" blue, round line, generic brand. Trimmer line does come in different extrusion profiles other than round. There are more trimmer line options if you are running 3mm filament, I'm running 1.75mm.
Printed on FRP(fiberglass reinforced panel) with very good adhesion, not so much on glass, didn't try kapton.
Pink Panther Woman is 50mm.
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2013 12:31AM by Dirty Steve.
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Attachments:
open | download -<br>trimmer.jpg<br>(264.5 KB)
Inquisitor
Re: printing with weed trimmer line
March 22, 2013 03:48AM
Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 86
What temperature did you set your extruder?
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Simba
Re: printing with weed trimmer line
March 22, 2013 10:41AM
Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 482
Inquisitor Wrote:
> What temperature did you set your extruder?
I used every color/brand you could find in home depot. They all worked the same, and they all crackled. I did 235C.
I recommend against using this material with small nozzles, and I am sure it will clog, plus the minute amount of cyanide no one seems to care about:
[www.instructables.com]
"Two brands of Trimmer or weed-whacker Line mfg in the US = .1ppm"
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2013 10:42AM by Simba.
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Dirty Steve
Re: printing with weed trimmer line
March 22, 2013 11:02AM
Registered: 14 years ago
Posts: 560
Temperature varied with generic brands, can only find blue and a semi-clear that will run in a 1.75mm hot end, 210 to 240, no clogs with a 0.25 nozzle, no pops during print after oven baking.
Printed about 10 degrees below popping and smoking a little. Material bubbles if too hot.
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doogleass
Re: printing with weed trimmer line
March 22, 2013 12:24PM
Registered: 13 years ago
Posts: 6
Why not just use the Nylon filament from octave?
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galaxyman7
Re: printing with weed trimmer line
March 22, 2013 01:28PM
Registered: 16 years ago
Posts: 198
Wow this is really cool to have all these people continuing something I started I love seeing all the people working on this.
@SIMBA
Ya I'm sure melting any plastic isn't gonna be good for you anyways, adequate ventilation is always good to have. If you are still getting crackling and little puffs of steam, you should dry the filament more. When I print I don't get any crackling.
@Squad
There are some pictures of objects printed with weed trimmer line on the wiki video. These parts were fairly large, but also thin so they didn't warp as much as other taller objects.
@Dirty Steve
Those are some nice looking prints . I haven't seen anyone use 1.75mm line yet. That is cool that you use fiberglass board, I wouldn't have thought of that. I use cardboard and it sticks to that like glue, but the cardboard is a little hard to get off the bottom of the part. One thing I have found with...