Introduction: DIY Cheapest Plastic Bottle Extruder, Recycle HDPE Milk Jugs Into Filament
we're gonna see how to recycle milk jugs and soda caps into filament
by melting them with the heat of a cheap soldering iron
you need:
- one empty CO2 cartidge
- one soldering iron
- insulating material (ex rockwool)
- one piston that fits inside the CO2 cartidge
- a vice or some clamps
Step 1: Manual Bottle Extruder With a Solder Iron
i wanted to know if i could recycle HDPE (milk bottle) at home so i made a ghetto hot end with a solder iron, clamped a CO2 cartidge on it it finaly melt and i got 5 mm of rough and strong filament by pressing with a piston tool i need a mechanical process to get a regular filament i can make pellets again with it for the moment :) i'll also need more heat to make the hdpe more fluid and make the extrusion smoother and maybe some insulation on the hot end.
Step 2: DIY HDPE EXTRUDER (from the Ghetto)
recycle your milk jugs and many more things into 3D printable filament
i've hacked a solder iron to make my heating source,60W !!! way more powerfull than my first attempt my auger is made of a 15 mm wood drill bit, my electric drill and a vice i made about 3 meters of filament with 1.5 grinded bottles and many losses the non regular diameter goes from 2 to 4 mm.
Step 3: Step 3 : Rewind the Heating Filament and Add Motor
i rewound the filament directly on the metal tube to increase the heating
it works , a bit too much i'll have to moderate it
i also added a support structure made of wood and a drill motor to run the drill bit anticlockwise
