{"id":1973,"date":"2013-03-18T18:55:00","date_gmt":"2013-03-18T18:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/archives\/1973-the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever.html"},"modified":"2017-04-17T12:48:45","modified_gmt":"2017-04-17T16:48:45","slug":"the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever","title":{"rendered":"The Lyman Filament Extruder May Drop the Cost of Desktop 3D Printing Forever"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"The%20Desktop%20Factory%20Competition\">The Desktop Factory Competition<\/a> launched in June 2012 challenged makers to design a cheap, open source method to turn plastic pellets (which sell for $10 kg) into filament suitable for a desktop 3D printer (that currently sells for $50 per kg). &nbsp;83 Year old inventor Hugh Lyman developed the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thingiverse.com\/thing:34653\" target=\"_blank\">Lyman Filament Extruder II<\/a>&nbsp;which for under $250 in parts can take standard plastic ABS pellets and squeeze them into filament.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hlZ678sMvZo\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\n<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The fact that this device is released as open source hardware means that others can modify and improve the mechanism to lower the cost and increase the efficiency, just as we have seen with the open source desktop 3D printers based on the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reprap.org\/wiki\/Main_Page\" target=\"_blank\">RepRap<\/a>. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Not only will this result in a massive reduction in the cost of raw 3D printing media, but it is also a very small step away from being able to grind and reuse failed 3D prints to feed into fresh new filament, or perhaps adding&nbsp;conductive&nbsp;media into the hopper to create filament suitable for making basic elctronic&nbsp;circuitry, or any type of tweak to customize the base material.<\/p>\n<p><!-- s9ymdb:33182 --><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"serendipity_image_center\" width=\"674\" height=\"505\" src=\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg\" alt=\"LYMAN FILAMENT EXTRUDER II\"><\/p>\n<p>The speed of innovation in the open source 3D printing world is making many of the large industrial 3D printer&nbsp;manufacturers&nbsp;appear to be moving in slow motion. &nbsp;We are not seeing the same rate of innovation in machines nor materials and we at Shapeways would LOVE to have new materials to share, or have a way to drop the material cost by a factor of five or ten as we see made possible by innovations like the&nbsp;The Lyman Filament Extruder. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Congratulations to Hugh Lyman who scored a giant $40,000 cheque for his invention and the respect of thousands of makers around the world.<\/p>\n<p>via <a href=\"http:\/\/techland.time.com\/2013\/03\/04\/how-an-83-year-old-inventor-beat-the-high-cost-of-3d-printing\/\" target=\"_blank\">Time.com<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Desktop Factory Competition launched in June 2012 challenged makers to design a cheap, open source method to turn plastic&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":14332,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[510],"tags":[541,559,944],"class_list":["post-1973","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-3d-printing-industry","tag-3d-printer","tag-inspiration","tag-whats-hot"],"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII-625x469.jpg","yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.9 (Yoast SEO v23.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Lyman Filament Extruder May Drop the Cost of Desktop 3D Printing Forever - Shapeways Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Desktop Factory Competition launched in June 2012 challenged makers to design a cheap, open source method to turn plastic pellets (which sell for $10\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Duann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Duann\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/848d6ff12be3ccf4dc1dcd672000dc28\"},\"headline\":\"The Lyman Filament Extruder May Drop the Cost of Desktop 3D Printing Forever\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-18T18:55:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-17T16:48:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever\"},\"wordCount\":309,\"commentCount\":2,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"3D printer\",\"inspiration\",\"What's Hot\"],\"articleSection\":[\"3D Printing Industry\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever\",\"name\":\"The Lyman Filament Extruder May Drop the Cost of Desktop 3D Printing Forever - Shapeways Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-18T18:55:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-17T16:48:45+00:00\",\"description\":\"The Desktop Factory Competition launched in June 2012 challenged makers to design a cheap, open source method to turn plastic pellets (which sell for $10\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg\",\"width\":690,\"height\":518},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Lyman Filament Extruder May Drop the Cost of Desktop 3D Printing Forever\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/\",\"name\":\"Shapeways Blog\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shapeways Blog\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/shapeways-blog.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/shapeways-blog.png\",\"width\":943,\"height\":121,\"caption\":\"Shapeways Blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/shapeways\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/shapeways\",\"http:\/\/instagram.com\/shapeways\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/848d6ff12be3ccf4dc1dcd672000dc28\",\"name\":\"Duann\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea603c7bb4c2a202ccb53143aa6361be78a18009648fd2c62fa4a229a565b0ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea603c7bb4c2a202ccb53143aa6361be78a18009648fd2c62fa4a229a565b0ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Duann\"},\"description\":\"Shapeways Designer Evangelist\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/bits-to-atoms.com\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/@bitstoatoms\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/author\/Wordpress\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Lyman Filament Extruder May Drop the Cost of Desktop 3D Printing Forever - Shapeways Blog","description":"The Desktop Factory Competition launched in June 2012 challenged makers to design a cheap, open source method to turn plastic pellets (which sell for $10","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Duann","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever"},"author":{"name":"Duann","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/848d6ff12be3ccf4dc1dcd672000dc28"},"headline":"The Lyman Filament Extruder May Drop the Cost of Desktop 3D Printing Forever","datePublished":"2013-03-18T18:55:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-04-17T16:48:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever"},"wordCount":309,"commentCount":2,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg","keywords":["3D printer","inspiration","What's Hot"],"articleSection":["3D Printing Industry"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever","url":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever","name":"The Lyman Filament Extruder May Drop the Cost of Desktop 3D Printing Forever - Shapeways Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg","datePublished":"2013-03-18T18:55:00+00:00","dateModified":"2017-04-17T16:48:45+00:00","description":"The Desktop Factory Competition launched in June 2012 challenged makers to design a cheap, open source method to turn plastic pellets (which sell for $10","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg","width":690,"height":518},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/the-lyman-filament-extruder-may-drop-the-cost-of-desktop-3d-printing-forever#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Lyman Filament Extruder May Drop the Cost of Desktop 3D Printing Forever"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/","name":"Shapeways Blog","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#organization","name":"Shapeways Blog","url":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/shapeways-blog.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/shapeways-blog.png","width":943,"height":121,"caption":"Shapeways Blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/facebook.com\/shapeways","https:\/\/x.com\/shapeways","http:\/\/instagram.com\/shapeways"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/848d6ff12be3ccf4dc1dcd672000dc28","name":"Duann","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/prodshapeblog.wpenginepowered.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea603c7bb4c2a202ccb53143aa6361be78a18009648fd2c62fa4a229a565b0ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ea603c7bb4c2a202ccb53143aa6361be78a18009648fd2c62fa4a229a565b0ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Duann"},"description":"Shapeways Designer Evangelist","sameAs":["http:\/\/bits-to-atoms.com\/","https:\/\/x.com\/@bitstoatoms"],"url":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/author\/Wordpress"}]}},"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg","featured_image_src_square":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/LYMAN-FILAMENT-EXTRUDERII.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"Duann","author_link":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/author\/Wordpress"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1973"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1973\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1973"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1973"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shapeways.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1973"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}