instructables
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder)
by ianmcmill
Too long, didn't read:
Make your own 3D printer filament !
Cheap and high quality at a decent speed of 150-190
IPM ! (4-5 meters per minute)
UPDATE: Now with wiring diagram !
Long read:
3D printers are cool and they finally start to drop in
price. Kickstarter campaigns like the one from QB-UP
or M3D are popping up and they are finally
"affordable". And with affordable I mean affordable
like 200 $ and not "affordable" like 2.199$ affordable.
However, once you are a proud owner of a 3D printer
you will soon realize that your wallet is far from being
let alone. No ! You need plastic filament of course to
print those super awesome coat hooks and wheel
chocks. Since the price for these filaments tend to top
the actual material costs, printing before mentioned
life savers is kind of expensive and could become a
problem to the development of the ever growing 3D
printer community
BUT FEAR NO MORE !! Some clever gents came
along - Hugh Lyman with his Lyman Extruder may be
mentioned here or the guys over at Filastruder.com -
and saved the day ! YAY. And there was much
rejoicing ! They have built plastic extruders everyone
can build or buy at a decent price. However if you are
a fellow Instructable.com user the first thing that
should come to your mind is "I can build this by
myself...and cheaper...". Building at lower costs is the
nature of DIY after all.
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 1
And much more fun than putting together a premade
kit, of course.
Special greetings go out to Xabbax and his plain
simple but super awesome Low Cost Filament Extrud
er !
So how much money do I save when making my
own filament ?
Good question ! A lot !
Depending on the pellets you get you can make your
filament starting at 1$/kg.
How long does it take to produce 1 kg of filament
you may ask ??
Using the build I describe here...roughly 1 hour. (for
1,75mm filament using ABS/PC pellets).
So, let's say on a Saturday in your next workshop
session you start at 10 AM and batten down the
hatches at 5 PM you could make 4-5 kg of filament,
saving between 125-150 $ leaving you with lots of
filament for hundreds of thousands of eggcups and
phone cases and other useless needful things.
Oh yeah what about the build cost ?
Depending on shipping and local prices, I would
guess around 130-150$.
Next step: List of Materials
http://youtu.be/F6ryVn9SL4I

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 2

Step 1: Material List

Except for the electronics everything listed here can be bought at your local hardware store.

Materials:

1x Wiper Motor (Ebay EU - 15€) / 5€ from the junkyard

1x Auger bit(diameter = 16mm ; length = 460mm)
1x PID Temperatur Controller - DC 12V version (Ebay)
1x SSR-25DA Solid State Relay 3-32V DC / 24-380V AC / 25A (Ebay)
1x K-type thermocouple (Ebay - like this one; does not need to be that shop :) just an example)
-->!!! Sometimes the PID is bundled with an SSR and an K-Type Thermocouple !!!<--

1x Motor Controller 20A (Ebay)

1x Power Supply 12V, 240W+ (Ebay)
1x Heating band (200 Watt 25mmx30mm) (Ebay)
2x Fans (80mm) 12V
1x Fitting 3/4" US Inch UNC --- 1/2" German Inch - 18cm long
1x Water tap extension - 3/4" UNC threads --- 1/2" German Inch - 50mm long, 27mm diameter (one
core thread and one exterior thread)
1x End cap 1/2"
1x Faucet-mounted filter - 1/2" diameter
3x Steel angle
1x Axial ball thrust bearing (Ebay) - Fitting exactly onto the auger bit's shaft.
2x 10mm threaded rod
1x Insulation
PTFE tape
Heat resistant tape
3x Rocker (previously "rocket") switches
1x Wooden board 100cm x 10cm x 2cm
Several screws and nuts
2x sockets (1 that fits on the auger bit and 1 that fits on the nuts of the motor shaft)
Wires (two colors)

Tools:

Multitool (Dremel-like)
Saw
Hammer
Drill

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 3

Step 2: Base Plate

Take the wooden board and cut away two pieces each 15cm in length (~6"). They will serve as a mount for the
motor and for the barrel.

Step 3: The Motor Mount

Mount the wiper motor to the motor mount and place
it somewhere at the end of the base plate. See the
technical drawing for an estimation.
Use the steel angles to attach it to the base plate.
The motor just has a threaded shaft. For the coupling
to fit onto the motor I took a hex-nut with 13mm outer
diameter and put it on the shaft. When the shaft
rotates and the coupling is attached, the nut would
untwist. To fix this I drilled a hole in-between the
attached nut and the motor shaft and put in a 2mm
steel bolt. This prevents the nut from opening. See
the last picture above.

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 4

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 5
Step 4: The Barrel Mount

Drill two holes into the other piece of wood so the Fasten the flanges with two pieces of the 10mm
flanges can be attached left and right of the board. threaded rod. The rods must be left long enough so
Drill another 1/2" hole for the auger bit. they can be screwed to the auger "kickback
protection". 10 cm is good enough. They can be cut
Both mounting boards need their center opening to be to size later on.
aligned to each other so the auger / coupling / shaft-
axis can rotate freely. This will get clear in the next step.

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 6

Step 5: Auger Kickback Protection
When the auger bit turns and hauls the pellets a lot of
pressure builds up. In the worst case this could
damage the worm drive inside the wiper motor. To
counter that problem, we need a kickback protection.
This is simply done by a sturdy steel angle and an
axial ball thrust bearing.These ball bearing withstand
alot of force applied to them.
It works like that: The auger pushed back due to its
"backward" turning attitude. Because of its taper the
auger's shaft pushes against the axial ballthrust
bearing which itself pushes against the steel angle.
The coupling between the auger and the motor
should always have a little clearance. So that no
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 7
force is applied to the motors shaft.
Now place the steel angle with the inserted rods at a
distance to the barrel mount so that the auger's shaft
sticks out for about 3-4cm (~1.5"-2").
The pictures should explain it as well. Moreover I
have made a short video that should illustrate it as
well. The dimensions of the parts might differ from the
ones you have access to. So exact measurement
might not help you very much, but the pictures should
give you an idea how it should be put together.
 http://youtu.be/wSWdK4LeF_w
Step 6: The Barrel and Auger Bit
Barrel:
Smooth out the ends and the seams of the pipe so
the auger bit can rotate freely.
Before cutting an opening into the pipe screw it tight
onto the flange and mark the upper area and remove
the barrel again.
Take your multitool and cut out the marked area at
the end of the pipe where the pellets should fall in.
Wind some PTFE tape around that end of the pipe.
This should prevent the pipe from turning with the
augers movement. Remember the motor is very
powerful and if there is some friction between the
auger and the pellets, the pipe easily turns another 4-
5 mm even if it was fastened with a monkey wrench.
The threads on the flange and fittings are not made
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 8
for perfect 90° angles. So the fitting/barrel might
stand in an oblique angle. To fix this take some
washers and place them under the flang where
necessary.
Take a square piece of wood and drill a hole
lengthways for the pipe to run through. Now drill
another hole orthogonal to the "pipe channel" so that
a bottle can fit tightly. Now just cut the block in half for
easy dis/-assembly.
Auger-bit:
The auger might be too long so you need to cut off its
tip with an angle grinder.
The auger bit should reach up to the heater. See the
pictures above.
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 9
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 10
Step 7: The Auger-motor Coupling
Take a 5cm (2 inch) piece of a square steel that fits
into the ends of the sockets (about 12mm edge
length).
Put the coupling on the auger bit and attach the motor
to the motor mount.
The coupling should now fit nicely in-between.
Alternatively you could use a spark plug socket
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 11
instead of the two sockets. But therefore the distance
between the motor-mount and the auger/barrel-mount
needs adjustment.
I went with the above mentioned method because I
did not have spark plug socket at hand but I will try
this with the next build.
Step 8: The Nozzle

Nozzle diameter:
Depending on the material you process the diameter
of the hole in the nozzle will vary and finding the right
dimension is a process of trial and error. For ABS/PC
blend pellets with a melting point between 240-280°C
a 1.5mm hole perfomed well from my experience.
Breaker plate:
Take the faucet-mounted filter and cut it into a 1/2"
diameter if needed. This will act as a breaker plate.
What this breaker plates does is mix the molten
plastic and retains dirty (which should not be there of
course) and eventually small bubbles that could occur
in the melting process. This helps smoothing the
plastic pushing through the nozzle.
Be sure there are no chippings or strands ! You don't
want to ruin your printers nozzle !
Take a washer, place it inside the end cap and put
the DIY breaker plate on top.

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 12

Step 9: Band Heater and Temperatur Probe (K-type Thermocouple)

Drill a 2mm hole near the front of the water tap
extender for the thermocouple to fit in.
Strip the thermocouple wire to length. It should just be
as long as needed.
Push the band heater on the tap extender. It should
sit around the end of the extender.
Next take some PTFE tape and wind it around the
thread of the tap extender. This prevents the molten
plastic from squeezing through the thread.
Fix the thermocouple with some heat resistant tape.
Then put on the nozzle from the previous step.
Next, take a 10cm long piece of aluminium tubing
with a diameter of around 1cm and place it in front of
the nozzle using some rigid wire. This gives the
filament a nice curl when cooling.
Thanks Xabbax for the idea.
Now wrap the insulation around the heater so that the
nozzle is covered as well.

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 13

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 14
Step 10: Cooling

The front of the nozzle and the motor needs some cooling.

The filament is still very hot and soft when it exits the nozzle. To prevent it from stretching too much from the
affecting g-forces when falling down, cooling is very important. The more you cool the better you can control the
diameter of the filament later on.

Although the motor builds up some heat and the fan helps to keep it cool.

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 15

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 16
Step 11: Electronics
Now that most of the mechanical parts are set and
done it is time for installing the electronics.
But before, take a piece of wood for the front
enclosure and arrange the 3 rocket switches, the PID
controller and the motor controller's potentiometer
and fix them with some hot glue.
Main power
Connect the power cord via a rocker/t switch to the
power supply (Ports L, N and Ground).
PID temperature controller
Connect the PID temperature controller via rocker
switches to the power supply.
Solid State Relay & Band heater
Connect the 12V ports of Solid State Relay to the PID
(Port 6 and 8)
Connect port 1 of the SSR to the 220V (EU) /120V
(US) port (Port L) of the power supply.
Connect port 2 of the SSR to one of the band heater
ports.
The other free port of the band heater is connected to
the N port of the power supply.
What does the SSR do actually ??
The band heater is a 220V part but the PID only runs
on 12V. Therefore the SSR connects the 12V PID
with the 220V heater. The PID powers the SSR on
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 17
and off if needed. When it is on then 220V are
connected to the band heater and it gets warm. If the
relay is off, the band heaters isn't connected to 220V
and ergo is powered down. The idea is to control a
high power device (Heater) with a low power device
(PID).
Motor controller
Connect the motor controller via a rocker switch to
the power supply. Then connect the motor to the
motor controller. Use the pinout for the 2nd speed
setting of the motor. The pinouts differ from model to
model and you first have to find out which pins are for
which speed setting.
The two fans are connected to the same ports as the
motor is to the motor controller.
Wiring diagram
I am not sure if I am allowed to post the wiring
diagrams for license reasons so I will link to the
respective websites.
1) Filastruder wiring diagram
2) Filabot Wee wiring diagram (scroll down)
3) Here is a link to the Sestos PID I used.
Step 12: Extrusion Settings and Setting Up the PID
Different materials need different extrusion settings.
For pure ABS a temperatur of 190°C is about right.
PLA requires less heat and ABS/PC blend needs
higher temperatures like 260-270°C.
The Sestos PID is able to autotune to the desired
temperature.
PID controller setup:
To enable the autotune function press "SET" for 3
seconds.
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 18
You will now see "HIAL" on the display. Now use the
DOWN button until you see "Ctrl" and adjust it to "2".
This is the number for the autotune function. Press
"SET" again until you see the temperature readout
again. Just after all the EP1-8 options. Set the
desired temperature using the up and down buttons
and wait until the display stops flashing (~10-15
minutes).
Activate the motor and let the extruding begin. You
have to play around with the speed of the motor.
From my experience setting the potentiometer to half
speed @ 270°C for ABS/PC performed very well.
Hi, how did you attach the auger bit to the wiper motor??? I see the sockets and all that stuff, but I
still don't get the part when you get the auger bit rolling The auger bit is round, so how can I attach
it to a sock that is square shaped? .

THanks a lot in advance.

Although I've posted in my profile as "hobbyist", I have 30+ years experience as a process
engineer in extrusion, on machines ranging from 3/4" to 4.5" diameter, with a wide range of
different plastics.

This instructable is great as far as covering the drive, mechanical & electrical aspects. However,
this, and other similar designs suffer from the same fundamental design flaw: a drill bit is not a feed
screw! A true extruder feed screw has, along the length of the barrel, feed, compression and
metering sections, with progressively shallower clearance between the root of the screw and
barrel. This is the key to stable melting and output.

I've experimented with one of the low-cost kit designs, with the included auger bit as well as other
types (hammer drill bits, which look more like a real feed screw) - collected a lot of data (~1000
points) - measuring not the filament diameter, which is affected by cooling, but the weight/unit time
exiting the nozzle. My conclusion is that even for an "easy" resin like ABS, output variability of +/-
10-15% is expected. This can be accommodated somewhat with the flow setting on 3D printers,
but jams are inevitable on the high end (> ~1.9mm on my Prusa).

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 19

I'm still thinking about, if not actively working on, a way to make this little machine more functional.
The sticking point is the much higher cost of of a CNC-machined feed screw, many times the price
of a kit or Ian's DIY approach.

I am totally with you in this regard. But an auger is the closest part I could get when building on a
budget. And those home kits just use an auger an sell it with sky high price tags which IMHO is...
You get the point. Using a real feed screw would also require to exchange most of the parts of my
machine and effectively the outcome would be a totally new machine.
What I wanted to show with this instructable was that it is paradox to buy such a commercial
machine because the soul of this hobby is DIY for the sake of DIY. Not to buy ridiculous expensive
kits.
No reason why a real feed screw couldn't be made to fit inside your design, just needs to have
same L/D and drive end to match the auger bit. I admit I took the easy way out with the kit, but at
only about 2x cost of the pure DIY route. It was certainly an interesting project, and for me became
a challenge using my professional knowledge to see what it could do as-is, and then with various
hacks. Not to be too discouraging, but those seeing this design and thinking "I'll never have to buy
a roll of filament again" (or, especially, "I can chop up my scrap prints and make new filament")
need to understand its fundamental limitations.

There's another way, probably cheaper than a CNC-machined feed screw, to make a screw (still
from a drill bit) & barrel (still from a standard pipe) that can generate compression that I'm looking
into. Requires machine shop work, but simple lathing and wire EDM (not as exotic as you might
imagine). Will keep you posted.
Hi, I'm Farshad and I'm student and I want to make this a good idea. If you can explain to me the
drill that you used, I do not know anything about it, please tell me the name and Share application
standard for it and say how it should be selected, for example, a suitable spiral angle with the drill
to keep the material from burning safe.
Thank you for your attention
hi i am going to make one of these. I willl however be electrically grounding the barrel section .
With a heater powered at mains voltage the metalwork near the heating element must be grounded
for safety reasons. Without grounding its possible that due to a electrical fault that the metal parts
could become livened up to mains voltage.
So ground the barrel in accordance with your local rules on electrical mains wiring.
Hello. Have you finished the extruder? Did you like the results?

I run a CNC machine that produces a huge amount of rice size HDPE chips. This is technically
King Starboard if anyone is curious about the exact material.

I am interested in recycling these chips into printer filament. Does anyone have any experiences
doing this with HDPE? Tips, suggestions, etc..

Will it work or is there a reason it will fail? Thanks for any advice.
Has someone tried out to make vhs cassettes into filament? I have lots of old vhs cassettes lying
around, ready to be shredded. I believe they are made out off polystyrol - should behave something
like ABS.
Where do you get your pellets from?

I got my pellets from a local distributor for industrial plastic processing machines. They also sell
pellets. Around 0.90 to 2€ per kg. But only in bags of 25kg. Your best chance would be to study
your yellow pages for similar companies.

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 20

Buying pellets from 3d print shops is not an option as they sell it often for exorbitant high prices
where buying ready to use filament is cheaper.
Okay thanks, I‘ll ask my uncle, he works in this kind of business

Thank you very much, i‘ll try that

Made one with a friend for a University Project. Turned out to look nicer, than to work as
exspected. We would Need some sort of roll-up mechanism for the Filament, because it doesnt
falls consistent and gets wavy. If we had more time to optimize the output, I guess the Filament
would extrude pretty nice and even. The fan at the nozzle controls the rigidity of the Filament a lot
more than i exspected.

Hi,
I'm a student (on a budget) who wants to build and use this in an assignment but I need some
more guidance on how to actually build it and on some of the materials. I'm American and I think
some of the parts listed here are British, so I'm having a little trouble trying to actually find them. It's
harder for me to buy parts that are from foreign sellers like China because I'm on a deadline and
they might not get here on time so I need help finding suitable alternatives. I also can't find some of
the parts listed like the faucet-mounted filter or the water tap extension. Some of the materials
listed are also pretty vague in specific type of part of dimensions like the steel angles, the fittings,
end caps etc. I found auger bits that are as close to the one listed in the materials but they're 5/8
inches in diameter and either 18 or 17 inches in length. 17 inch one is cheaper so I want to use that
one instead but I don't know how much that would affect the design or how to compensate for the
differences.
If any of you could give me a thorough walkthrough of all the materials (and what exactly they're
used for) and the building process it would be greatly appreciated. Much thanks.
Hi,
I am glad you like this build and that you choose it for an assignment. I'm a teacher myself and I'm
happy to help you with that. I am from Germany and as you, I had the same issue with different
size standards when I built this extruder because most of the parts from different instructions
(Lyman extruder) were US. There is also a difference between British and German pipe fittings. 1"
British fitting =! 1" German fitting. That is something that triggers my everytime. Metrics and
(ancient) Imperial. Same with cooking recipes. Gramm vs. Cups. When I read measurements like 1
3/4" or 0 5/64" (2mm) the hairs on my neck stand up.

Let's start with the obvious. The electronics from China. You cannot get around those electronics
from China when it comes to the price. So if you have a deadline, order the PID controller right now
instead of tomorrow. Or maybe there are some resellers in the US who stocked up on chinese
electronics. This is what we have here in Germany. Resellers that specialized on keeping a stock
of those often ordered chinese electronics. They might be slightly more expensive but the delivery
is much quicker.

Faucet-mounted filter / water tap: I realized from the comments that these two parts seem to be
typical for the German/EU plumbing sector. So I cannot help you with that. Sorry.
Now for the all the other materials/dimensions/length like angle, fitting, auger bit:
When I started this build, I had no material list but just the pictures from some of those pricey
Extruder kits. Basically what I did was to source the parts that I thought I would need and of what
was available to me.
Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 21
I started with the auger and a pipe fitting and build the rest around those two parts. Most of the
material I got from my local hardware store. I guess that is Lowes or home depot in the US.
Does the auger easily slide into the fitting? Check.
How much space does the auger have? Roughly 1 mm. Check. Should work.
The water tap extension can be anything that could be used to have the heater wrapped around. I
just went with that because it was made out of brass and the surface was very smooth (compared
to those cast steel pipings). You could source anything that has similar properties or grind and
sand a standard pipe fitting to make it smooth.
In general, the whole extruder is sourced-by-availability project.
It is not important if the auger is 17 or 18". At least I cannot tell the difference. We are not doing
rocket science here. The same with those angles. Grab what you think will work. Don't rely too
much on instructions. Replace parts with what you think could work better. Most of the time it will
work better.

Good luck and show some pictures when you'r done. I would like to hear what your
lecturer/teacher says about it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlhMO0wrdI8

Made a version of it for my CapStone project

Hi, i don't know if i did some wrong, but i bought a 3/4 pipe and a 16 mm drill, but i see many space
between the lumen of the pipe and the drill. it's normal?

I'm pretty sure you need s80 pipe. I just ordered some so I'll let you know how it works. I have no
idea why this isn't specified in any of the instructions for hese machines because everywhere I've
looked only has s40 with a .81" id.
Update
3/4 s80 pipe and 3/4 in bit fits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5u5D-xPTuI

making one

What size auger bit/pipe are you using? I haven't been able to find anything that fits.

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 22

I made it.

Guys, I recreated this great project and now I have my own Filament Extruder. I would like to use
ABS, but when I called a local supplier for polymers they told me that there are many types of ABS
- LG ABS, Magnum ABS, Sicoflex ABS, POLYMAN ABS and so on. What are the requirements to
ABS? What type of ABS is preferred to be used? Is there a specific property that the ABS must
meet? Please advice!
With high torq motor, can produce more filamen with less time

Hi FadlyN. Thanks for sharing your design, I really like it! Where did you find a motor like that? Did
you still use the same type of auger & barrel?
i found it on ex forklift motor ^ ^, yup im still use these design
Detail my Project
https://www.idekubagus.com/2018/01/diy-filament-extruder-3d-printer-part1.html
Thank you for the reply! Yeah i figured i would need something like a grinder to shred those bottles
apart, and aside from saving money buying pellets i wanted to throw in a bit of green and help save
the planet lol.
Thanks, so will a stepper motor have enough torque?

I'm making this type extruder...Thanks for the idea....But I have a big problem : auger is jamming
amd motor stop rotating the auger because plastic pallets are stuck between auger and barrel
feeding slot corner (As shown in image) ... How to solve this issue Please...???

the distance between auger and nozzle should not be too far, this is d Key

Your auger is turning in the wrong direction. CCW is the dull side of an Auger. I would say its a
combination of the two solutions you have here.
I tried each and every thing described on Internet on different websites but nothing helped
me....Then I changed the motor...I attach a big 220v very high torque motor to my extruder.... :-D ;-)
Now it is working great... I have made many filament spools ...

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 23

The smaller the slot is, the lesser is the surface/edge where pellets can jam.

The feeding slot is very big. The bigger it is, the more likely pellets are going to jam. Try making a
feeding slot smaller so that it is "above" the pivot point of the curvature of the the pipe.

This would be my suggestion.

Do old failed prints make the new spools?

yes it does! just break failed pieces apart in pieces of ~ 3 by 3 mm and it will do the yob as pellets!
Pay attention for the material you use
sadly, no

On your materials list you listed "1x Fitting 3/4" US Inch UNC --- 1/2" German Inch - 18cm long" is
this the section of pipe that makes the barrel?unless i over looked it I didnt see anything refering to
this in any of the steps
how big should the hole in the nozzle be?

Hey guys, what kind of motors did you use to drive the auger bit?
Does this one look good?
http://www.monsterscooterparts.com/24v30mowisp.html
What is your trick to obtain constant filament diameter?
Should I let the filament fall by itself without guiding it?
What about the cooling of the matter after it has been extruded?

I know this is designed to use plastic pellets, but would there be any issues if i tried making
filament out of shredded plastic?
I'll pay someone to buy this for me

*build ???

I live in Nebraska. I'll actually pay $500, including shipping. I'd want a 30 day return policy to make
sure it's working as it should
I made this extruder a while ago, and I also purchased a Filawinder to auto-spool the filament, but
I'm having lots of troubles finding the right combination to extrude PLA with a consistent diameter
of 1.75 or close. Any recommendations on RPMs, temp and nozzle hole diameter?
PLA cools down more slowly than ABS, therefore there are may issues to take into account:
First of all your extruder has to produce a consistent extrudate. Pellets have to be melt well and
contain no unmelted bumps, no air bubbles and no contaminating particles.

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 24

Another thing which actually contradicts a little to the first one you should use as low temperature
for extruding as possible for factory extrusion it is 205C but for home it could be around 190C (if
your extruder will have enough power not to choke)
Then you should put your extruder at the height which provides consistent gravity pull (so extrudate
is straight) with the required diameter (the higher is the extruder the thinner will be the resulting
diameter). Then you should cool it not with one fan but install several fans along the path (within 1
or 1,5 meter length)
So here is a lot of playing around with PLA :)
Quick question. Im in the process of buying a 3D printer but i quickly realized how expensive
filament is. So i had the idea to make my own plastic recycler since we seem to go through cases
of water in no time. So if i wanted to make plastic pellets out of the PET plastic of water bottles
would this extruder work to turn it into filament?
If you are able to get the bottles into pellet size easily you are good to go.

However filament isn't that expensive anymore in my humble opinion. Where I live, which is in
Germany, I pay for a 800gr roll around 20€. This is made in Germany by a small company which
specialzed on making filament only. But I have also seen 1kg no-name rolls on ebay for around
17€. For a really long time I used this cheaper no-name filament and the quality was very nice.
Also the diameter was (with both, the cheap and the "more" expensive" filament) absolutely
constant at 1.73mm +- 0.01mm.

Speaking of which. Getting the correct diameter on self-extruded filament and maintaining that
specific diameter is a science in itself. This is a lot of trail and error. A lot of. And time is money and
when considering it from the economic stance I fear that buying ready made filament is a bit more
economically than making it yourself. All the more if you realize that getting PET bottles into
pinhead sized pellets requieres a machine (or at least some manual laborious handywork) and
buying pellets might be easier in the end. Because, you know, 3d printer shops sell pellets for
hilarious high prices.

Build Your Own 3d Printer Filament Factory (Filament Extruder): Page 25