Filament Splicer

Project cancelled, click here to read why
The idea for Filament Splicer was born about a month after our Ultimaker 3D Printer was build. As cool as 3D Printing is, printing in one color is boring.

Users of normal, single head FFF/FDM printers are stuck with single color unless they join filament pieces together to produce one multi-colored string. It is not very complicated but process is quite awkward and you will get fed up very quickly.

If you want to have proper, stable filament join you need to have right temperature on the tip of plastic when you connect pieces together. This is hard to achieve when you use some arbitrary heat source. You either underheat or overheat and burn the plastic. Using print head of your printer is best 'ad-hoc' solution but it leaves quite a mess on it, you cannot print when you splice and plastic which is in the head slowly gets burned while you take time to splice your string.

Then, of course there is issue with forming of the joint, carpet knife and fingers where our favorite tools for that job but it took quite a long time to form each joint.

We have had our share of failed prints due to broken joints / stuck filament and finally decided to create a device which will help to splice filament. Initial idea was to create fully automated unit: you place filament ends on copper block, close it, push the button and viola - you have your joint. That was the theory.... In practice this is impossible because PLA and ABS expand during heat-up and contract during cool down, this results in either no joint at all or bubble-filled mess.

Many headache filled days [Even best PLA is really nasty stuff when you breath it in for a while] later we dropped the idea and went for 'open' model with precisely manufactured grooves which help to quickly heat up, connect and form joints.

Thermal insulation was another challenge, we wanted to allow up to 260c temperature but nothing could properly insulate enclosure from hot copper block for prolonged period of time. Ceramic fiber thermal tape can take that heat but one needs a lot of it and then there is itching... Chinese tape is horrible and even best branded, made in USA [ThermoTec] tape is not flawless. We eventually gave up on ceramic fibre and went with PFTA [Teflon] plates. Since PFTA can be outright poisonous at high temperatures, we decided to use high quality - made in Europe material - this way we are sure that maximum temperature of 235c is well within safety limit.

Availability

Filament splicer can be pre-ordered via our campaign on Indiegogo, it is available as a DIY kit or fully assembled unit.

 

Assembled
Assembled
Kit
Kit

 

Open Source

Filament splicer blueprints are released under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License and can be downloaded from Thingiverse and Youmagine.

Tags: 
projects
filament splicer

40884 Comments

Anonymous

VictorLag (not verified)

on

Mon, 07/28/2025 - 00:01

While manufacturers continue to tweak their products to overcome the stigma of ultraprocessed foods, nutritionists suggest consumers move forward in choosing products that help the planet — as long as they keep reading the nutrition label.

“I would look for something with a good fat composition in which saturated fat is less than a third of the total fat,” Willett said. “Some vegetable burgers made from peas and legumes can be quite starchy, which the body breaks down similarly to sugar, so I would prefer to see alternatives with more healthy fat, more nuts, more soy.”
[url=https://tripskan.org]tripscan войти[/url]
While the Dietary Guidelines for Americans call for a limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day for adults, “the American Heart Association recommends a limit of 1,500 milligrams for adults over 50, which is the standard I prefer,” Willett said.

“Look for about 1 milligram of sodium per calorie, which is a pretty good criteria,” he added. “In general, salt and saturated fat are the two really important factors — along with something that’s flavorful or delicious, which is, of course, up to the consumer.”
https://tripskan.org
tripscan войти
One more key point from Willett: Before plant-based meats can truly help save the planet, they need to come down in price.

“These products are quite a bit more expensive, from what I’ve seen, than basic hamburger,” he said, “and we really need products that are price competitive with the beef and pork if we’re going to see them used on a daily basis, not just by people who can afford it.”

Anonymous

Clintonbek (not verified)

on

Mon, 07/28/2025 - 04:23

Unity and BrightBuilt factory-built homes share an important feature: They are airtight, part of what makes them 60% more efficient than a standard home. GO Logic says its homes are even more efficient, requiring very little energy to keep cool or warm.
[url=https://kra35c.cc]kraken даркнет[/url]
“Everybody wants to be able to build a house that’s going to take less to heat and cool,” said Unity director Mark Hertzler.

Home efficiency has other indirect benefits. The insulation and airtightness – aided by heat pumps and air exchangers – helps manage the movement of heat, air and moisture, which keeps fresh air circulating and mold growth at bay, according to Hertzler.
https://kra35c.cc
kraken
Buntel, a spring allergy sufferer, said his Somerville home’s air exchange has made a noticeable difference in the amount of pollen in the house. And customers have remarked on how quiet their homes are, due to their insulation.

“I’m from New England, so I’ve always lived in drafty, uncomfortable, older houses,” Buntel said. “This is really amazing to me, how consistent it is throughout the year.”
Some panelized home customers are choosing to build not just to reduce their carbon footprint, but because of the looming threat of a warming planet, and the stronger storms it brings.

Burton DeWilde, a Unity homeowner based in Vermont, wanted to build a home that could withstand increasing climate impacts like severe flooding.

“I think of myself as a preemptive climate refugee, which is maybe a loaded term, but I wasn’t willing to wait around for disaster to strike,” he told CNN.

Sustainability is one of Unity’s founding principles, and the company builds houses with the goal of being all-electric.

“We’re trying to eliminate fossil fuels and the need for fossil fuels,” Hertzler said.

Goodson may drill oil by day, but the only fossil fuel he uses at home is diesel to power the house battery if the sun doesn’t shine for days. Goodson estimated he burned just 30 gallons of diesel last winter – hundreds of gallons less than Maine homeowners who burn oil to stay warm.

“We have no power bill, no fuel bill, all the things that you would have in an on-grid house,” he said. “We pay for internet, and we pay property taxes, and that’s it.”

Anonymous

DarrellLouse (not verified)

on

Mon, 07/28/2025 - 05:47

While manufacturers continue to tweak their products to overcome the stigma of ultraprocessed foods, nutritionists suggest consumers move forward in choosing products that help the planet — as long as they keep reading the nutrition label.

“I would look for something with a good fat composition in which saturated fat is less than a third of the total fat,” Willett said. “Some vegetable burgers made from peas and legumes can be quite starchy, which the body breaks down similarly to sugar, so I would prefer to see alternatives with more healthy fat, more nuts, more soy.”
[url=https://tripskan.org]трипскан[/url]
While the Dietary Guidelines for Americans call for a limit of 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day for adults, “the American Heart Association recommends a limit of 1,500 milligrams for adults over 50, which is the standard I prefer,” Willett said.

“Look for about 1 milligram of sodium per calorie, which is a pretty good criteria,” he added. “In general, salt and saturated fat are the two really important factors — along with something that’s flavorful or delicious, which is, of course, up to the consumer.”
https://tripskan.org
tripscan top
One more key point from Willett: Before plant-based meats can truly help save the planet, they need to come down in price.

“These products are quite a bit more expensive, from what I’ve seen, than basic hamburger,” he said, “and we really need products that are price competitive with the beef and pork if we’re going to see them used on a daily basis, not just by people who can afford it.”

Anonymous

MarquelWrisa (not verified)

on

Mon, 07/28/2025 - 06:03

Браво, какая фраза..., блестящая мысль
??/????/??/?????????/??? ?? ??? ??? ??? ? ?? ?? [url=https://agentimmo225.com/index.php/2025/07/20/page-66/]https://agentimmo... ??|?? ???|?? ???|?? ???|?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???/?? ???

Pages

Add your comment

More information about text formats

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.