Recycling PLA
By Ben Everard. Posted
This article was originally published as part of HackSpace magazine, which has since been incorporated into Raspberry Pi Official Magazine.
As you might imagine, we get through quite a bit of 3D printer filament here at HackSpace magazine. While most of it is PLA made from natural environments, we still want to be responsible with our waste, so we've been experimenting with recycling PLA using a simple heat-press to melt it down and re-form it. We're still finalising our technique which we'll share in HackSpace issue 68 next month, but we wanted to share some progress shots with you
You can make bowls by 'slumping' sheets of softened PLA over a mould
You can lasercut shapes out
By twisting the molten plastic, you can create patterns in the sheets
A blast from a hot-air gun polishes the PLA to a high shine
We really like the black-and-orange
The starting material is a mix of failed prints, support material and unneeded objects
Ben is the Editor of HackSpace magazine. When not wrangling words, he enjoys cycling, gardening, and attempting to identify wild mushrooms.
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