Truly a 3D Printer's Printer

The fully funded Kickstarter project known as the Filabot Reclaimer is actually a combination grinder, heated extruder, sizing rollers, and a filament spooling system; but the output of hot plastic which cools into ready-to-use 3D printer filament is strikingly reminiscent of the 3D printers it is designed to feed. Because the Filabot is a "plastic extrusion system", it is certainly not a new idea, but scaling it down to a desktop environment size of 12 x 12 x 24 inches is a development that "allows for the already innovative 3D printing movement, to become more self sufficient, experiment with new materials, and recycle bad prints".

Electrifying Possibility

The Daily Grind

If a consumer has ever owned either a meat-grinder or a pasta-maker with multiple extruder nozzles, that person already has some understanding of how the Filabot Reclaimer filament maker actually works.

The Filabot Reclaimer eats soda, shampoo, and detergent bottles, plastic pipe, product packaging, and even milk jugs for breakfast, so to speak. The plastic is then melted under pressure in the extruder, emerging from either a 3 millimeter or 1.75 millimeter interchangeable nozzle, after which it is sized-adjusted by rollers, and automatically wound onto a standard spool. The filament is then ready for use in any of several consumer-grade 3D printers that have become widely available, with new designs continuing to emerge into the marketplace.

Thinking Inside the Box

During the design, development and prototyping process, McNaney purchased a box truck and connected a solar-panel array so he would have a workshop while at college. That truck has been put to use as the headquarters for operations and for assembling some Filabot systems.

Made With the Maker Community in Mind

McNaney's website says the Filabot is essentially a one-stop shop for producing filament from recyclable plastic, and creates a closed-loop recycling environment which "allows for the ultimate personal factory, giving greater control over what type of plastic material to use". Some plastics can benefit from color modifications by the addition of various dyes during the recycling process.

The Goal

The Kickstarter website says McNaney's company, Rocknail Specialties, has the goal of making the Filabot "simple and easy to use" while providing a "complete system that is affordable and reliable". He states one of his future goals is providing "systems to third-world countries so that they can manufacture things as simple as a cup or fork, with plastic that would otherwise be waste".

Recently Rocknail has been making the first production units for the Kickstarter investors. Production units for the consumer market with some additional improvements should be available soon, but prices have not yet been announced.

Recyclable Plastic Types

Depending on type and color a kilogram of plastic filament will typically cost US-$35 to $55 which makes recycling very attractive for high volume projects. Filabot's grinder can handle plastic waste chunks as large as 3-inches square, and can process the following plastic types.

• ABS (Lego's, Luggage, Water-Pipes)


• HDPE (Bottles, Bottle Caps, Milk-Jugs Water-Pipes)


• LDPE (Trays, Plastic-Wrap, Slides)


• Nylon


• PET / PETE (Bottles)


• PLA (Bio-degradables, Organic Waste, Packaging)

Print, Recycle, & Repeat

Inquisitive minds are coming up with innovations and new uses for 3D printers on a daily basis. Perhaps if someone were to 3D print one-hundred percent of a bicycle from recycled plastic, that would give a whole new meaning to the term "recycling".