Get an all metal heat-break that goes between the nozzle and the heat sink. The Ender 3 v2 can only go up to 260c and even the Capricorn PTFE tubing will burn at those temps. Whining printing PET, you’ll need to run at 258-260c (like I mentioned) and you’ll need to run super slow, like only 17-20 mm/s. Use very little parts cooling fan, like only 20%. You’ll also have to play with the retraction settings. I think I ran mine at like 6 to 8 mm.

@@KevinGroninga3D Thanks!

Recycling at its finest, yes? 😅

Goofing around, printing some of these smalls before we head out tomorrow for the weekend in Tombstone!

Yeah, I don’t dry before pultruding, but if I use it to print right away, it prints fine. Pultruding is heating and pushing that moisture out. The filament I was using in this video had been sitting in my garage for about 9 months. Plenty of time to absorb more moisture.

Do you mean the large cardboard spools? There’s no ‘model’ per se. They’re just three pieces of cardboard. Two large circles that are about 390mm in diameter (with a small hole in the center), and then a rectangular strip that is about 30mm wide and about 628mm long. Take the long strip and roll it into a circle and tape the two narrow ends together (inside and outside of the circle). On one of the large cardboard circles, draw another circle that is 200mm in diameter. Then on the cardboard ring, just put a little glue on just one outside edge and line that up with the circle you just drew. Use a book or something to hold that in place while the glue dries. When dry, then put glue on the other edge of the ring and set the other large cardboard circle on that being careful to line up the two large cardboard circles. When gluing the ring (hub) to the large circles, you can use a bunch of small bits of tape to keep the ring circular and in place. Put that tape on the inside of the ring where you won’t see it when it’s all assembled.

Thanks! just sharing a little advice to those who also try to make filament from plastic bottles. hope this helps!

Welcome! Yeah, if you dry yours and then the prints improve, let me know! I’d be interested to hear peoples own experiences.

Thanks! I really enjoy making and printing with this PET1 filament!

@@KevinGroninga3Ddo you know where can I get a cheap 3d printer? Amazon?

@@Legotechniccustoms ​​⁠well, that’s sort of a loaded question. There are lots of printers to choose from and you first have to consider your needs and what you want to be able to do with it. You may want to look at Amazon returned printers that you can buy on eBay. Price is good, but there could be things missing or potentially wrong with the printer. And yeah, Amazon also has plenty to printers to shop from.

@@KevinGroninga3D ok

Thanks! With an Ender 3 your max temp is only 260C. Not ideal as PET needs to print very hot. But you can print at 255-260C if you run at just 15-17mm/s. Very slow. And your parts fan should only be about 20-25%.

Heck yeah! Last summer here we set new records for heat…. Not looking forward to this coming summer…

.4mm nozzle, 25mm/s, 275C nozzle temp, bed 70C, parts fan 30%

Thanks! Yeah, this was one of my older videos. But I continue to create 3D printer filament from plastic bottles and do videos about that process. Have you seen any of my more recent videos? I just dropped some yesterday where I created a large rainbow multi-colored vase using these same techniques! 😮

Yeah I've been looking through a few of your videos. I like that you are both recycling and saving money at the same time. I'm curious of the durability of the filament you end up with and if your prints are staying together or do they start separating? Also, are they holding color fairly well over time?

@@Zizarkis1 PET is super strong and the prints hold up really well over time and the colors stay fast. In the windshield of my truck I have a shade screen that is held closed with some neodymium magnets incases in small PET enclosures. Those have been in my window for well over 4 years in the HOT Arizona sun and they’re in perfect condition. And still as green as the day I printed them! I’d out PET up against PETG or PLA any day as far as strength and durability. And there are different methods for coloring. Permanent markers are very popular. But I’ve also used Polyester Dye and even recently used India Ink applied with a small felt pad. The color is amazing and is SO much faster to apply than using a marker!

Thanks!!

Thanks! This is one of the tallest prints I’ve done with PET1 to date. I used a .8mm nozzle on my CR10 v3 with Sprite Pro extruder. Sliced line width was .86mm and then cranked the flow rate to 120%, so I got a nice thick single wall in vase mode. 😊

No, not in your Discord. Can you send me an invite? It’s ‘KevinGroninga’

The model isn’t mine. I found it on Cults3D or Printables (can’t remember which…)

Just what the heck are you talking about? I’ve been converting plastic bottles to usable PET filament and successfully printing 3D objects for several years. And these aren’t ‘repackaged’! This is my own video! That’s me in the video. So you just best do your own research before you go running off at the mouth.

Why don’t you spend some time and go look into what’s called ‘Pultrusion’. Then come back and explain why you think this is BS.

Go take a look at all the videos I've published about this technique. I explain the entire process, even how to 3D print with it. So, this sort of makes YOU look dumb (or at the very least, quite ignorant.) There are hundreds of people that do this Pultrusion processing of recycled PET1 plastic bottles. Would you like for me to refer you to about a dozen or so?

I have the models in TinkerCAD, but I don’t think I ever recorded the electronic part numbers or did a schematic for it. Honestly, I didn’t think anyone else would be interested in it. That, and I often get questioned as to why I color the inside of the bottle instead of the outside. And yes, I have a very practical reason for it…. I color the inside, and when I feed the ribbon into the Pultruder I make sure the ribbon gets rolled into a tube with that colored portion going to the inside of the completed filament. That way the ink from the markers is INSIDE the filament, not on the outside where it could contaminate my hot-end. That way I don’t get blobs of color when I’m printing with clear filament (for example).

@@KevinGroninga3D I understand, I asked you if you have or would release the models because sometimes it helps someone (like me) who doesn't know how to model. Thanks!

@@FrancisBentoMarques do you have an account in TinkerCAD.com? I could make that project ‘public’ so you could download the models within it.

Pls do it kevin

Boy, that brings back memories, doesn’t it? If you think about it, he sounds a little like Mr. Rogers…

Thanks! And it was a fun, practical way to learn a little more about coding on the Arduino. 😅

Thanks

I have a large vase mode vase in mind and want that single wall to be as thick as possible. So this was a test run to see if I had my print profile settings correct to use this .8mm nozzle. Later I’m going to do a vid on the little machine I made to slowly rotate my bottles while I use a marker to color the inside. Gonna do 5 bottles, about 75 meters..

@@KevinGroninga3D Look forward to your antics regardless of my opinion :) Don't stop the train my friend! Keep up the great work experimenting! You're a good influence to the community!

Thanks! Which Pultruder design are you building?

@@KevinGroninga3D it's nothing crazy. It's something homemade just to test the concept. I'm looking online to see if I can find some good open source plans to build a nice one eventually.

@@phillipremondini5617 have you looked at the Recreator3D MK5 on Printables.com? It uses a lot of parts from an old Ender 3 printer. These can be found pretty cheap.

@@KevinGroninga3D I did not 😅. But I will take look now that's for sure

@@phillipremondini5617 I built two of those, but made a LOT of mods to their current design, even created my own Marlin firmware to run on it. $50 for an old Ender 3, and then maybe another $50 for other various hardware. But they work pretty well!

Sure can! But it might take me a day or two to fit a full ‘step by step’ video into my schedule.

@@KevinGroninga3D I'll always be here Kevin, great work and hugs!

Well, I’d need all the details about the Pultruder machine and a description of the problem(s).

Hmm, I printed mine in PETG, but I think it will also be acceptable to use PLA. You might want to reach out to the designer (Stephano Lunazzi) and ask for his recommendation.

Yep, can be done at 255-260c, but you gotta go pretty slow! 😂. I usually run at 275c and 25mm/s.

@@KevinGroninga3D yep, I do reduce fans and speed))) As I only use it for my experiments) You are absolutely right)

Higher temp helps, especially if you want to go faster or use strong cooling to avoid crystallization in heat-dense sections and get great overhangs. I'm running 290+ °C at 280+ mm/s.

Based on the thickness of the plastic, you need to vary the width of the ribbon. How thick is the plastic for these Kirkland bottles? There’s a mathematical calculation for this. In my video here, my bottles are .3mm thick, so calculated width is 8mm. However, you generally want to be about .5mm narrower than that. I cut my bottles at just over 7.5mm wide.

It’s on Printables.com www.printables.com/model/179820-the-recreator-3d-mk5kit-ender3-pultrusion-unit

I didn’t show a Pultruder in this video. What I showed was an automated filament joiner called the Slunaz FF1R. I showed the name right in the video. You’ll have to Google to find out where to buy the kit ti build it. It’s not free for download.

I have seen people splice their ribbons before recessing them through their Pultruders, but I don’t recommend that as the spliced ribbon could get stuck in the nozzle because there is too much plastic to pull through that small hole. But I do absolutely recommend you look into an automatic filament welding machine called the ‘Slunaz FF1R’. I’ve been using one I bought and built for about 2 months now and it’s incredible! It will weld the completed filament sections together and the weld joints it makes are incredibly strong. Just search for ‘Slunaz FF1R’ right here on KZfaq, or go back on my recent videos and you’ll see I posted a demonstration of how it works.

@@KevinGroninga3D Hello, I saw the machine in your video, unfortunately I can't buy it and bring it to Brazil, my reality is sad. I'm releasing the filaments like you in this video, that's all I can do. Thanks for your attention!

@@FrancisBentoMarques why can’t you bring it to Brazil? Banned from import for some reason?

@@KevinGroninga3D Kevin, for me to import I would pay 110% in taxes, in addition to the Euro being worth 1 for each 5,47 real today... :(

iDye Poly (polyester dye) must be used while the water it hot and it will actually penetrate into the PET ribbon. This India Ink is just swabbed on with a small piece of felt while it’s cold and it does NOT penetrate into the plastic, just merely dries on the surface. But after this test with the magenta color, I’m quite happy with the results! Super fast to swab on, it didn’t bead up on the plastic and in the end, it made a nice consistent color. What do you think of the color?

@@KevinGroninga3D It looks really good and it's a simpler method too for coloring

@@lajoyalobos2009 that was the Dr. Ph. Martin’s ‘magenta’. I’m excited to try some of the other colors now! And to design a 3D printed handle to hold the little felt sections at the end.

And I thought scorpions were creepy! And don’t feel bad, I have a hard time watching some of the ‘Alien’ movies as well…. 😮

I’ve made two Recreator3D MK5’s, and both have a number of mods to your design that I found to be helpful. For example, I’ve made the hub of the spool larger and it’s reinforced (side to side) with 6 sections of all-thread. Prior to that change, I had a very difficult pull that actually broke the threads between the large gear and the hub. I also reversed the direction of the spool so that the filament wraps underneath instead of up and over the top. These two changes prevent the filament from having such a tight wind around the spool. When I take the filament off, it straightens out instead of being in a tight coil. In any case, any time someone asks about my Pultruders, I always point them to your project on Printables and let them know how easy it is to build one from an old Ender 3.

It’s just a small piece of felt that I binder clipped to a scrap piece of acrylic. This was my first test using this India Ink. To be honest, I’m pleasantly surprised at how well this works and how quick it is to color the inside of these bottles! Normally I use Sharpie brand permanent markers. But these soda bottles are far too small to get my hand inside of. So I did a little research and found that India Ink could be used. And best of all, this ink is water soluble! 😊

It seems very easy indeed!

I will try the same procedure with refill ink for markers

@@promitheasd Heck yes! I like this method and will be buying more colors of India Ink from Amazon!

@@promitheasd should work, so long as the ink doesn’t bead up on the plastic.

Hmm, ‘need’, ‘want’, sort of the same thing…. Lol. Maybe he has pesky peasants that are uprising….

I want to see you chop a hot dog or something in half to see if it works.

@@skydude426 ​​⁠my neighbor has it now. I think he did a cocktail weenie with it. I’ll have to ask him. I think he took it into his work, where it sits alongside some other medieval devices I 3D printed for him, like a crossbow, a ballista, and a penny catapult. 😅

Come kids, I have a new toy for you 😂

Stop whining, you don’t need that finger anyway, that’s why God gave you ten.

😂. I only do that when I use the small soda bottles that my hand won’t fit inside of. I also use some larger 1-gal water bottles, and I color the inside of those before I cut them into strips. Way more time efficient! Speaking of which…. And you’ll love this…. I just recently made an Arduino Nano and stepper motor powered bottle ‘turner’. After prepping the bottle and cutting off the bottom, I screw it back into a cap that been attached to the shaft of the stepper. It then begins slowly turning, and while that’s happening, I use a marker and make small circles inside the bottle, starting at the neck and working my way down to the bottom. A real time saver! Hahahahhaa!!

@@KevinGroninga3Dwow , you truely are the chosen one ! Lol I recently made the machine too , and tuned the proceses to be very efficient but i still dont like doing it cause it take some time to wash the bottles & also i haven't found a reliable way of joining the filaments toghether . Have you tried slushing alchohol ink inside the bottle & letting it dry before cutting instead of sharpying it ? Personally i'm not intrested in coloring the filament but if i had , i would've gave it a try .best regards bud

@@thevoidedwarranty I tried alcohol ink one time, but it didn't work very well. However, polyester dye works great! I bought a product called 'iDye Poly' on Amazon. I then took the coiled-up ribbon and soaked it in that warm dye, then rinsed and pultruded. The color is absolutely fantastic! I've done Crimson Red and Royal Purple and both were very rich in color! As for joining sections.... I recently bought a Slunaz FF1R automatic filament joiner by being a backer on a KickStarter campaign. That machine is fully automatic and does an absolutely fantastic job of making solid, strong welds. it makes the job of joining multiple sections and winding them up on a spool a veritable pleasure. SO EASY!

In fact, I think I posted a video about the Slunaz FF1R here on my channel. It was one of my recent videos. Super cool machine!

@@KevinGroninga3D sounds great ,but we dont have international shipping or ebay or any sites of that kind to by stuff . What i personally make is what i get . I'll figure something out for the joining

The bottle cutter you see here I made myself. But you can buy ones just like it on Etsy. It uses two sharpened bearings. The thing on top of the bottle is just a weight that I made to hold the bottle down as I cut so that the ribbon stays a consistent width. As far as a printer for PET, you’ll want one that can do up to 300c (I print PET at around 275c) and it’s best if it’s a direct drive printer. Do NOT use the old style Bowden tube hot ends where the Bowden tube actually touched the back of the nozzle!!! At these temperatures. The PTFE in the tube will burn and off-has, which is very dangerous to breath. Instead use a direct drive hot-end with an ‘all metal’ heat break.

@@KevinGroninga3D thank you sir 🙏 I have the cutter already, I just cannot perfect it yet lol I got it from Raúl (function3d). I have Creality 3 v2 and I think what you're suggesting applies to it. I'll try to get direct setup for it then. Thank you for being amazing human🙏🙏🙏

And now once I have an old hot end, what can I do with it? Do you have any suggestions?

@@matildo4ka7 ​​⁠yes, I know Raul! I see his videos over on TikTok all the time. As for the Ender 3 v2…. They will only go up to 260c, it’s the top limit in the firmware. The stock Ender 3 v2 also uses a Bowden tube that goes all the way to the back of the nozzle. You’d have to change that and replace the heat-break with an all-metal heat break, the type where only the break itself touches the nozzle and the Bowden tube is never exposed to high temps. Now having said that, you can make the Ender 3 v2 print PET, but you have to print and really, really slow speeds.

@@KevinGroninga3D i found one for $100.Do you have Amazon rewards code. I'm going to buy hot end and I can put your code as you helped me.

PET needs to be printed above 260C, so you’ll want a printer than can do up to 300C. And having a direct drive system is also better for doing PET.

@@KevinGroninga3D ok thanks, my printer has both of those.

What do you mean?

@@KevinGroninga3D just curious if you have anything in can reach out to you on. I love what you are doing and was wondering if we could communicate on some things

@@jayzazuare you on Telegram? My ID there is @KevinGroninga

Im just using a square corner bracket. It’s screwed down and bolted to the board underneath. Then where the heat block is mounted I just drilled a hole a wee bit larger than the threads on the nozzle. I put the nozzle thru that hole and then tighten into the heat-block. That holds everything in place.

Answered on a previous comment. Product called ‘Goo Gone’. It’s available on Amazon. a.co/d/70hcldL

I use a product called ‘Goo Gone’. It’s in a spray bottle and smells like oranges. It does a really good job on most adhesive. However, some bottles (like 2 liter coke bottles for example) are difficult and I tend not to try to use them for that very reason. Too much time spent trying to get that adhesive removed.

@@KevinGroninga3D than so much

Thanks*