Strooder 3D Printing Filament Extruder is Live on Kickstarter

Since the first 3D printers made its debut, companies have benefited from them in great ways, from cost savings to switching almost entirely from mass manufacturing to mass 3D printing manufacturing,

of course, for them getting hands on raw material is not much of a deal.

But what about the average Joe? Even though over the last year or two 3D printers have undergone a smashing cut on prices, getting the raw materials to have your creations 3D printed before your eyes is quiet an endeavour for your wallet (What are the Types of 3D Printing Materials?).

Before we move on to Strooder, if you still don’t understand how the economies of scale work for these raw materials please view the image below and keep on reading.

So, pellets are the building blocks of almost any plastic or material used for 3D printing, the price of pellets is almost nothing compared to the price of the processed pellet (filament), just to give you a ballpark on the profit margin companies have on making filaments, companies usually have a 400 to 1200% profit margin.

So 1kg of say PLA or ABS filament is on the market for about $20 to $50 dollars which shows two things, the cost of producing this filaments is almost nothing (there is a 400 to 1200% profit margin) and the fact that there is so much gap in the price also tells that suppliers have quite a fight in prices and still make a profit out of it. We can also say that prices vary so much due to the quality of the plastic but still, margins are huge and who pays the ultimate price is the end user.

So Strooder has come as a saviour, and hopefully will be one, Strooder is a product of a company called Omnidymanics where its founders David Graves and Greg Gruszecki are launching it as of right now (May 27^th) in a Kickstarter campaign.

Strooder will be the first filament extruder available for the average user with little to non-expertise in this process. A fill colour 2.4 inch screen and a very simple and intuitive user interphase, the dives cuts right into the pellet to filament market. What Strooder does is that it takes the pellets using a screw mechanism in a safe enclosure and forces them along the extrusion tube where they are melted and formed into the final product, a filament! Ready to be used in your 3D printer.

If you are interested in getting some of the goodies Strooder is offering for first sponsors go now to Kickstarter and see what the story is.

The specs for the Strooder are as follows.

• Screen resolution: 360 X 220 pixels
• Input: 4 control buttons and a power switch
• Pre-Set Materials: PLA & ABS plastics
• Other materials: Any other materials with melting points under 250 degrees Celsius
• Extrusion Rate: 0.7m – 1.5m/minute
• Hopper Size: 1KG of plastic pellets
• Feed Screw Speed: Up to 8 RPM
• Extrusion Temperature: 40-230°C
• Enclosure Size: Height 225mm, Width 165, Depth 285mm
• Power Draw: ~200W
• Filament Tolerances: 1.75mm (+ .1/ – .1) & 3mm (+ .1/ – .1). with nozzle change.
• Feed Screw Speed: 10-35 RPM
• Input Power: 115VAC and 220VAC