3mm to 1.75mm filament converter

thingiverse

I adore my new extruder on my SteelBug (https://solar1.net/drupal/Steel_Bug). It was designed to convert my numerous 3mm filament rolls into 1.75mm filaments. In the attached picture, the lower spool is a sample roll only; it doesn't represent the actual input material. The SteelBug frame is made from 1-inch square steel tubing, which can also be replaced with aluminum extrusion, but I opted for steel due to its low cost and my welding expertise. The extruder came from an old printer and operates using antiquated Thingomatic electronics. You set the temperature based on whether you're working with ABS or PLA in ReplicatorG, then manually control the extrusion process for an extended duration. However, there's still work to be done: my output spool may require a stepper driver to wind up the filament; I'll tackle that later. For now, I have to monitor the machine continuously during operation.