Make: Volume 75

2. Extrude pellets on demand. Your printer’s

extruder consumes plastic waste and pellets

instead of filament, and extrudes the melt directly

on the build surface. Compared to other printers,

the pellet print head is typically heavier, slower,

and bigger, leaving a smaller print volume.

I have worked with two recycling systems that

cover each use case: the Filastruder filament

extruder (Figure

A

) and the Lily direct pellet

extruder (Figure

B

). The Filastruder is available

from filastruder.com as a kit, can be mounted

horizontally or vertically (it’s better vertically), and

can be assembled to include a takeup spool that

matches the speed at