.

That Was A Goodness

Wed, 16 Jun 2010 15:54:36 -0400

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That Was A Goodness

Hand Crank Extruding

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:08:26 -0400

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Hand Crank Extruding

Final Extruder

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:47:01 -0400

Final Extruder

Precedent Heat Testing: using the internal system of a hair...

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:56:07 -0400

Precedent Heat Testing: using the internal system of a hair straightener.

Pros: heat gauge, potential adjustable temperature

Cons: Electrocution, temperature did not adjust

As shown below, we ended up using nichrome wire (80% nickel and 20% chromium)

Gear Testing 1

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:29:25 -0400

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Gear Testing 1

Heat Tests Continued…Using the heated nichrome wire at...

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:24:00 -0400

Heat Tests Continued…Using the heated nichrome wire at different temperatures to fine an accurate temperature to melt the plastic milk bottle cap.

Heat Testing of the nichrome wire, which worked well and was...

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:01:00 -0400

Heat Testing of the nichrome wire, which worked well and was chosen as the final source for the heating mechanism. Nichrome wire is used as the heating element in many household appliances such as hair dryers and toasters, as well as fireworks and explosives.

Shots of 2nd Extruder

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 07:10:27 -0400

Shots of 2nd Extruder

Components of Grinder

Sun, 13 Jun 2010 06:57:24 -0400

Components of Grinder

Potential Gears.

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:16:00 -0400

Heres the potential gears that might drive the extruder. they Currently have a 1:9 Ratio and having two sets combined with this motor from jaycar would be almost perfect RPM of around 100 and should provide enough toque.

Link to Jay Car about the motor -

http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=YM2716&keywords=motor&form=KEYWORD

There might be enough material strength in acrylic if the gears were thick enough would need to do some tests tho

Photo

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 03:14:43 -0400

The Mixer.

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:48:18 -0400

The Mixer worked pretty well with HPDE and PET when it was run for about 30 minutes but its really not feasibleA kitchen wizz would probably work better because it would cut rather than munch, but they are expensive for what we might get/use out of it. looked in second hand stores and trademe
Heres a quick model of the kind of chopper that would work best for all type of materials and states. Also would look cool when you put a makerbot model into it and chop it. Its Based off the chopper Jono posted awhile back.
Depending how finely it chops it may need a second stage to chop it finer. But just speculation at the moment
We can possibly make a larger extruder to fit larger pieces in using a 10-15mm screw, but the amount of material that it would push through may be unfeasible, but something to fall back on
It has 50 pieces which are 3mm thick. There is a plasma cutter in the workshop that would easily cut them out. Using a mdf template cut on the laser cutter and allowing for the cutting tolerances it would be pretty easy to make. and since its kinda dangerous hand operated would be better.
Or it may be a good opportunity to talk to industry and see it we can get someone to supply and or cut the material for us.
Have also looked into meat grinders but the way the material is cuts/grinds may be ineffective for our needs and has same issues as we do with extruder.
Total dimentions above is W 70 x L 80 x H80 but thats very Flexible

Photo

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:46:20 -0400

The First Extrudes from No4. (Thursday 3rd June) Bottom Picture...

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:35:44 -0400

The First Extrudes from No4. (Thursday 3rd June) Bottom Picture clearly show the jump in quality from our inital tests. Material above is HDPE 130º Melting point

Some Pictures of Screw Extruder Number 4 that jason has been...

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:25:39 -0400

Some Pictures of Screw Extruder Number 4 that jason has been working on (finished Wednesday 3rd June) - it now has separate sections that can be insulated if needed. At the moment it has a 2.75mm Dia Die. It Works really well. It does needs a thrust Bering for the end because it wearing through the metal but thats an easy fix.

Heres the latest extruding by jason (Friday 4th June) he got the gravity “Pulling” out of the die working really well and the material was a very consistent size,when the material going into the hopper was all well sized. by using a fan under the front of the die has increased the cooling of the material as it exits the extruder.

He has tried a variety of plastics, HDPE, Milk bottle, milk lids, Plastic bags (by far the funnest to watch and do), Clear Bottle PET and White Abs
So far have tried Blue Green Orange White and Clear and a few different mixing s. Also have some yellow for the next extrude session. The spool in the bottom picture is around 2.5m.

Material extrusion.

Sat, 12 Jun 2010 01:17:13 -0400

Material extrusion.

Concept Cooling Conveyor Belt. Daniel has been working on a...

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:57:00 -0400

Concept Cooling Conveyor Belt.

Daniel has been working on a cooling conveyor belt for the extruded plastic to be extruded on to.Here are some quick renders of his concepts of a cooling conveyor belt, it also might help pull the extruded plastic out,which has been a problem lately.

Extruding.

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:23:47 -0400

Extruding.

Extruder

Fri, 11 Jun 2010 06:20:00 -0400

Extruder

Food Processor Experiments. Jenny has been experimenting with...

Thu, 10 Jun 2010 07:23:00 -0400

Food Processor Experiments.

Jenny has been experimenting with food processors and these are photos from her experiment a couple of weeks ago. Obviously a small hand held processor isn’t the way to go in terms of the grinding mechanism.