Polyformer - Ideal Filament Recycler

Made a short vid on the advantages of PET.

Currently, I am trying to cut 0.2mm bottles with the standard bottle cutter. Unfortunately, it keeps on on jamming. Upon closer inspection, it seems that the bearing seats have been deformed. I think the bearings were loose so instead of the outer ring spinning they were both moving. I assume over time the seats were grinded down. After reprinting the part, the cutter works again. I am ashamed to admit it took 2 days for me to resolve this.

[Figure 1: Grounded down bearing seat]

I had a really cool 3 hour recycled print that I wanted to share today. Unfortunately, the power cut mid-print. I'm not a dummy, I plugged my 3D printer into a UPS for this specific purpose. But I guess the UPS was second or messed up in some way since it only kept the printer on for ~15 sec. 

I managed to replace the unit in town and I am running the cool print job again as we speak. Hopefully, I can share it tomorrow.

Got a bit frustrated today cutting bottles as they were too big for the standard bottle cutter.  I printed out a simple extension tool to fit the larger bottles.

It's stupid...I know...but it summarizes the project :)

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A post shared by Swaleh Owais (@callmeswal)

I have printed all of the parts to make the first Polyformer in Rwanda. Big thank-you to Tresor and T Squared robotics for letting my hijack their lab to build these machines: .

Originally, I was supposed to print the Polyformer pieces in ABS. I actually brought four spools of ABS all the way from California for this explicit purpose. Unfortunately, Kigali is extremely humid and the ABS is not printing well in this environment. The prints won't stick to the bed while printing or at the very least it warps. So I ended up buying PLA filament locally here to print out the pieces. That 53,000 RWF per roll 😢 (for now mwahahahaha)

[Figure 1: Box of Polyformer Parts]

Our next task is to deploy a Polyformer at Makerspace Kigali. I met the space manager Tinah today and learned more about this amazing community center.

I told Tinah that I would have the machine ready for the makerspace by end of December so hopefully Polyformer will be a great Christmas present. Maybe I can print it in Christmas colours? Red and White instead of White and Red....

Tinah informed me that the the makerspace currently charges members 750 RWF per gram to use the 3D printers. That is about 075 USD per gram....which is really expensive. A small 20gram print would could almost $15 USD. 

I have all of the parts to build a Polyformer, except the 3D printed pieces. Ironically, I need to use filament to make a filament making machine. In true rep-rap fashion, I hope to eventually make a Polyformer from recycled materials. Or atleast a Polyformer-Lite.

Just finished deploying our first Polyformer at my favourite 3D printing center in Kigali: ECC Rwanda.

I made a short playlist where I demonstrate using the machine at the center. In the video series, you can also meet our local partner Tresor Cyiza who will be maintaining and managing the machines long term.

I'm estatic that we get to collaborate with Tresor on this project as he is an expert on 3D printing and specifically fabricating recycled printer filament. Tresor himself has already designed and built his own pullstrusion machine in Rwanda. As an avid maker, he was frustrated by the insanely high cost of 3D printer filament in Rwanda. Fortunately he is an avid maker, so he made his own custom machine to recycle bottles into filament. He has named his design Polywinder and he provides more details on the project in the Polyformer discord server. Currently, Tresor is experimenting with a Wellzoom extruder to fabricate filament from PLA pellets. If he is successful, he will be able to manufacture filament in Rwanda for $7 a kilo. I really wanted to share Tresor's story as I think it illustrates how local makers are already trying to solve this problem themselves. That proves there is a need for this project (or something like it atleast).

Anyways, here is our workshop session at the makerspace: https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17868595826778677/.

Just wrapped up the Prototypes for Humanity conference. Definitely one of the best experiences of my life. I would strongly encourage any hackers reading this log to apply for the event next year.

The next step is to deploy some Polyformers at our partner makerspaces in Rwanda. Big shoutout to Hackaday as we are funding this trip with the Hackaday prize money. I have one fully assembled Polyformer and kits to build three more. I have identified two makerspaces so far (ECC Rwanda and Makerspace Kigali)  to deploy the machines at. I am still investigating centers to send the remaining two machines, so if you have any ideas let me know!

[Figure 1: Prototypes for Humanity Conference Dubai 2022]

[Figure 2: Exhibitors interacting with Polyformer]

[Figure 3: Polyformer Booth Prototypes]

Last month (November 14th - 17th), I presented the project at the Protototypes for Humanity Conference in Dubai. The event was a brilliant experience except for one major problem...REITEN COULDN'T COME. We tried everything...immigration officers...lawyers....more immigration officers....but we were unable to get Reiten the required paperwork.

As a stopgap, I emsure that Reiten's presence was at the event via many embarrassing photos of him. Unfortunately, his presence was not strong enough for us to win the 25k exhibitor prize. If he did come, we totally would have won though!

We did manage to demonstrate and explain the recycling technology to many conference attendees.  A lot of schools seems interested in setting up a Polyformer in their makerspace. The experience was definitely worth lugging a 3D printer around UAE.

[Figure 4: 3D Printer that we lugged around Dubai]

Some exciting news! 

We have been selected to attend The Global Gradshow in Dubai this November. At this conference, we will bring a Polyformer and a Polyformer-Lite to the show the filament recycling process. 

After the conference, I will be heading back to the US but Swaleh will be heading to Rwanda to deploy some Polyformers at local makerspaces. Also, Swaleh will be bringing a few kits that he will building in Rwanda with the help of some cool Rwandese makers. Ideally, our partner makerspaces in Rwanda will be able to use the machines to make there own filament instead of purchasing from abroad.

If you want to make your own Polyformer, you can build one from the kit at this link: https://dfh.fm/collections/new-products/products/polyformer-kit-by-reiten966.