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

54266 Comments

Anonymous

Wesleynog (not verified)

on

Tue, 09/23/2025 - 23:08

Elusive shipwreck found in Lake Michigan over 100 years after sinking
[url=https://rutorforum24.top]рутор форум[/url]
A “ghost ship” that sank in Lake Michigan nearly 140 years ago and eluded several search efforts over the past five decades has been found, according to researchers with the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association.

The wooden schooner got caught in a storm in the dead of night and went down in September 1886. In the weeks after, a lighthouse keeper reported the ship’s masts breaking the lake surface, and fishermen caught pieces of the vessel in their nets. Still, wreck hunters were unable to track down the ship’s location — until now.
https://rutordeepeib6lopqoor55gfbnvh2zbsyxqpv5hnjg2qcji2x7sookqd.com
rutorclubwiypaf63caqzlqwtcxqu5w6req6h7bjnvdlm4m7tddiwoyd onion
Earlier this year, a team of researchers with the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association and Wisconsin Historical Society located the shipwreck off the coastal town of Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, the association announced on Sunday.

Named the F.J. King, the ship had become a legend within the Wisconsin wreck hunter community for its elusive nature, said maritime historian Brendon Baillod, principal investigator and project lead of the discovery.

“We really wanted to solve this mystery, and we didn’t expect to,” Baillod told CNN. “(The ship) seemed to have just vanished into thin air. … I actually couldn’t believe we found it.”

The wreck is just one of many that have been found in the Great Lakes in recent years, and there are still hundreds left to be recovered in Lake Michigan alone, according to Baillod.

The ‘ghost ship’
Built in 1867, the F.J. King plied the waters of the Great Lakes for the purpose of trans-lake commerce. The ship transported grains during a time when Wisconsin served as the breadbasket of the United States. The 144-foot-long (44-meter) vessel also carried cargo including iron ore, lumber and more.

The ship had a lucrative 19-year career until that September night when a gale-force wind caused its seams to break apart, according to the announcement. The captain, William Griffin, ordered the crew to evacuate on the ship’s yawl boat, from where they watched the F.J. King sink, bow first.

Anonymous

Billyitaws (not verified)

on

Tue, 09/23/2025 - 23:08

Elusive shipwreck found in Lake Michigan over 100 years after sinking
[url=https://rutordark63xripv2a3skfrgjonvr3rqawcdpj2zcbw3sigkn6l3xpad.com]rutor forum[/url]
A “ghost ship” that sank in Lake Michigan nearly 140 years ago and eluded several search efforts over the past five decades has been found, according to researchers with the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association.

The wooden schooner got caught in a storm in the dead of night and went down in September 1886. In the weeks after, a lighthouse keeper reported the ship’s masts breaking the lake surface, and fishermen caught pieces of the vessel in their nets. Still, wreck hunters were unable to track down the ship’s location — until now.
https://rutor09.com
rutorclubwiypaf63caqzlqwtcxqu5w6req6h7bjnvdlm4m7tddiwoyd onion
Earlier this year, a team of researchers with the Wisconsin Underwater Archeology Association and Wisconsin Historical Society located the shipwreck off the coastal town of Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin, the association announced on Sunday.

Named the F.J. King, the ship had become a legend within the Wisconsin wreck hunter community for its elusive nature, said maritime historian Brendon Baillod, principal investigator and project lead of the discovery.

“We really wanted to solve this mystery, and we didn’t expect to,” Baillod told CNN. “(The ship) seemed to have just vanished into thin air. … I actually couldn’t believe we found it.”

The wreck is just one of many that have been found in the Great Lakes in recent years, and there are still hundreds left to be recovered in Lake Michigan alone, according to Baillod.

The ‘ghost ship’
Built in 1867, the F.J. King plied the waters of the Great Lakes for the purpose of trans-lake commerce. The ship transported grains during a time when Wisconsin served as the breadbasket of the United States. The 144-foot-long (44-meter) vessel also carried cargo including iron ore, lumber and more.

The ship had a lucrative 19-year career until that September night when a gale-force wind caused its seams to break apart, according to the announcement. The captain, William Griffin, ordered the crew to evacuate on the ship’s yawl boat, from where they watched the F.J. King sink, bow first.

Anonymous

VictoriaBog (not verified)

on

Tue, 09/23/2025 - 23:38

Идеальный вариант
Ножницы для резки кожи. сумочки и кошельки из натуральной кожи - это популярные товары, [url=http://роялиндиго.рф/]http://роялиндиго.рф[/url] что могут похвастаться долгий срок службы и выглядят стильно.

Anonymous

Ahmadidedo (not verified)

on

Wed, 09/24/2025 - 01:03

Я считаю, что Вы не правы. Я уверен. Пишите мне в PM, обсудим.
1.реальные бланки, печати и врачи. у каждого из них свой расписание работы, [url=https://sr-trade.bg/priem-narkologa-kak-prohodit/]https://sr-trade.bg/pr... поэтому навряд ли можно будет за сегодня получить все требующиеся заключения и повторно успеть в кабинет к медработнику за справкой.

Anonymous

RichardBaide (not verified)

on

Wed, 09/24/2025 - 01:03

<a href=https://www.stcware.com/>актуальные зеркала kraken</a> kraken onion, kraken onion ссылка, kraken onion зеркала, kraken рабочая ссылка onion, сайт kraken onion, kraken darknet, kraken darknet market, kraken darknet ссылка, сайт kraken darknet, kraken актуальные ссылки, кракен ссылка kraken, kraken официальные ссылки, kraken ссылка тор, kraken ссылка зеркало, kraken ссылка на сайт, kraken онион, kraken онион тор, кракен онион, кракен онион тор, кракен онион зеркало, кракен даркнет маркет, кракен darknet, кракен onion, кракен ссылка onion, кракен onion сайт, kra ссылка, kraken сайт, kraken актуальные ссылки, kraken зеркало, kraken ссылка зеркало, kraken зеркало рабочее, актуальные зеркала kraken, kraken сайт зеркала, kraken маркетплейс зеркало, кракен ссылка, кракен даркнет

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.