What it is:

The STRUdittle is a 3D filament creating machine. For those with 3D printing background, you know that you can rapidly use up a lot of the filament material. Each 1kg spool can run you from ~$35-$40 and up, plus shipping. The raw ABS pellets however run between ~$2-$5/lb, or ~1/5th-1/10th the cost. Why such a discrepancy? Because making high-quality filament is from pellet form is very challenging yet a necessity for your printer if you want accurate parts and not to clog your extrusion nozzle.

The STRUdittle is:

Compact: Measures approximately 9.5" wide x 6.4" deep 4.3" high (primary hopper/motor excluded). Note: Versions shipped will have much larger capacity hopper. In addition, the electronics enclosure unit (far right side) is detachable and can be placed in the most convenient spot)

See picture illustration:

The auto-spooler is also very compact:

Fast: Measured extrusion rates between 12-24"/minute -- operating at only 5V out of the rated 12V motor!

Precise: Can get up to +/- 0.05 mm tolerance on the extruded spool material when using the free-hanging floor coil method and +/-0.03 mm tolerance on the extruded spool material when using the auto-spooler!

See our measuring technique and resulting plots of data below:

Here's a plot of filament diameter width taken at 3" (every 1ft) and 6" (every 1 ft) intervals for the hanging (floor coiling) configuration.

Here's a plot of the test data for the auto-spooled configuration, taken at every 3":

Here's an image of our filament spool material (white) on top of highly regarded name-brand filament spool material (red)

Our filament (white) vs. major brand name filament (red)

Can't tell the difference? We can't either!

Still not convinced? Here's an example of a part made using our spool material. It was printed on a MakerGear M2 using Creator3D software, with the speed cranked up pretty high, random start point perimeter generation used, and 0.25 mm layer height. Notice that it is filled with the pellets used to create it:

Reliable: Fourth-iteration design has been tested for days at a time with no trouble.

We've designed, re-designed and then re-designed again. We weren't satisfied with the product until we felt it met the most stringent of requirements. The result? An awesome product for meeting your extrusion needs!

See the evolution of our product here:

More on product evolution:

Our v2 design CAD model:

And our v3 design CAD model:

Notice that our v4 design represents the latest and greatest:

Why did we decide to create our own filament extruder?

One day the freely available plans for the Lyman Filament Extruder came along, so we decided to try and construct it. Quickly found that you'd either have to be a skilled machinist and already own a lot of expensive tools or you'll find yourself with a lot of metal splinters, paying more than $250, and end up with a product with questionable reliability, mediocre quality filament that often gets tangled on the floor. However, we definitely applaud the Lyman Filament Extruder as a great starting point that inspired us to further advance the technology.

Other extruders on the market may pump out the material faster, but with far less precision and a much higher price. Products that extrude with a +/- 0.1mm tolerance have over an 11% variance when using a 1.75 mm spool, which make a clean print all but impossible. The precision on this extruder yields less than a 3.5% variance on filament diameter, making for excellent prints! In addition -- remember that this product is for the home hobbyist user -- you'll never be able to use up more than one spool a day anyway!

How does the main extruder unit work?

How does the constant speed and real-time feedback autospooler unit work?

More pictures of the main extruder and autospooler units:

So why do we need the funds?

Mass-scale savings. We've tried to purchase the parts ourselves, and we've tried to build one-off ourselves. Once shipping of parts, purchasing of precision tools (drill-press, metal drill bits, grinders, cut-off wheels, micro drills, electronics kits, etc) are factored in -- you'd end up spending hundreds more trying to build this unit yourself. We've been there and done that. Now that we've gone through the effort, let us make this easy for you.

We want to make this product available to the masses, and to do that we need to buy in bulk and save on unit costs and shipping In order to get the highest quality product, we need additional funds to buy even more specialty tools and R&D time to get the product the best it can be. To purchase these tools for one, two or even 10 units isn't cost-effective to deliver a unit at the prices we're offering.

How are we going to pull off mass-scale production?

We've already started contacting suppliers for various parts to set up bulk deals. In addition, we have spreadsheets outlining all of the parts involved, costs associated with each part, and location(s) to purchase those parts.

We spend a large amount of the time going through iterations to design for manufacturability. Coming from a manufacturing engineering background, lets you know that having a proper design can make all the difference in quality and quantity of parts. Our first iterations were a major pain to assemble and had much room for error, so we learned from our mistakes and made the latest versions nearly mistake proof they're designed to be rapidly manufactured.

We already have access to three 3D printers and are in the process of constructing an additional two units to assist in the generation of printed parts.

We also have the machining center consisting of a drill press, rotorary (dremel-like) tools, cut-off grinder wheel, power saws, hand drills, and an assortment of drill bits and a welder in addition and electronics lab in-house, but are looking to further expand our capabilities

The more backers we get, the better an end product we can make. If we're going to make lots of these units, we'll be sure to pay attention to every detail to make it the best product available to the home hobbyist.

Long story short -- we love to print:

And we know you love to print, so let us help you make it a more cost-effective hobby!

About the creator of the project:

Ben Fishler: Born and raised in Silicon Valley, CA, I'm currently employed as an aerospace engineer in San Diego. I've held my current position as an aerodynamics engineer for over three years, and came from a background of two years as a manufacturing engineer. I have an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering, and a Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering -- both from the University of California, San Diego, California (UCSD).

My duties at work include using computational fluid dynamics to assist in designing the internal gas-path parts of compressors -- namely the impeller, diffuser, and deswirl components. I also have experience in heat transfer, aero-acoustics, turbine and inlet design, and have six patents currently pending -- three of which I am the primary author.

In my spare time I tinker with electronics (embedded programming), fly airplanes (licensed private pilot), play with the 3D printer (currently building two more), and of course visit the wonderful beaches of sunny San Diego, California.

About the assisting members:

Angelina Altshuler, Ph.D: Project title: Product assembly coordinator. Daytime job and achievements: Siebel scholar, currently process engineer at biotech firm as well as consultant at biotech startup.

Joel Perez: Project title: Technical consultant, printer resource and unit tester. Daytime jobs: Aerospace engineer, owner of high altitude start-up InterSpace Systems [http://www.interspacesystems.com/]

Project Timeline:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Aq7ygzs3hYmgdE9pSHQwQmUzQ0dDOGotNjdNbzg5V3c&usp=sharing