Finally consistently extruding PLA filament in my modified Fialstruder!
very nice. is that for a 3d printer?
Yup, he has a filastruder + filawinder there, to create PLA filament from raw pellets (much cheaper). http://www.filastruder.com for more info.
thanks for the info.
We are thinking of getting one of these for our hackerspace. Why did you modify it ?
Do you have a write-up of your modifications at all?
While building the kit I decided to designed my own hopper connector which include a fan to get rid of the heat that travels through the barrel, because PLA is more sensitive to heat than ABS.
The reason for the second quite extensive modification was that I managed to bend the original barrel. First I thought I screwed up and ordered 2 spare barrels (if I were to bend the new one) which I did…
I’m using NatureWorks PLA Polymer 4032D and I found that the machine had a really tough time grinding the pellets that was caught between the screw and the cut opening in the barrel. I figured that was the cause of my problem so I decided to get a shorter barrel and make a chamber inspired by the Lyman extruder on thingiverse.
I still have some issues with grinding but it is nothing compared to the earlier experience. I’m currently extruding consistently at less than ±0.05mm.
Now that the machine is working I’ll build a second machine and have a few more modification iterations done to sort out the last glitches. Since none of this would have been possible without the work of Lyman I’m planning a write-up of the modifications and release my files when I’m satisfied with the design.
That’s really interesting that felt the need to modify so much! Users report the stock Filastruder extruding PLA just fine (as long as the PLA is free of moisture):
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/4108/my-filastruder-and-results-so-far-abs-and-pla/
One user reported extruding over 1000kg of PLA so far. Typically, the barrel is only bent if the motor is turned on before the plastic is allowed to melt. I haven’t heard of a a case where the barrel bent due to shearing a pellet.
At any rate, thanks for sharing!
Hi Tim,
Maybe I’m just an incurable tinkerer…
My experience is quite different than the ones expressed in the forum, it may be my odd choice of pellets that makes all the difference. This is NOT a rant of your product. On the contrary, I expect to place an order for another Filastruder/Filawinder package in the near future 
I started with checking all I could in the forum, even asked a few questions. The last thing I did was to bake the pellets in the kitchen owen (maybe not so intelligent…) When when the baked pellets broke my second pipe I decided to try this. And it worked so I’m a happy camper.
http://www.soliforum.com/topic/8180/drying-natureworks-pla-polymer-4032d/
That’s awesome man! DIY FTW