3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: !functionalprint@kbin.social or !functionalprint@fedia.io
There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml
Rules
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No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
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Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
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No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
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No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
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Do not create links to reddit
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If you see an issue please flag it
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No guns
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No injury gore posts
If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe/ may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)
Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible
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In theory, you can remelt. Unfortunately, the practicalities mean it's not viable. Each remelt cycle degrades the plastic itself, so you can only put 20% or so 'old' plastic into the mix. Combined with the game of plasticisers (to remove brittleness) and reliable forming, even commercial systems struggle, let alone home ones.
If environmental concerns are the issue. It's best to print in uncoloured PLA filament. PLA is corn starch based, and decomposes in a bio reactor environment (it rots quickly in an industrial composter).
As for speed. They are getting impressively fast. A calibration cube takes around 20 minutes, though less than 5 minutes is possible. My machine is effectively fire and forget. They mess around while you are tuning them in, but once you have a good calibration, they now tend to hold it well. You'll sit there watching it in fascination for the first few months, but that wears off.