Cardboard

3D Printing

By Linus

A cardboard revolution is coming! From both my interest in sustainability and fascination for tools and techniques grew the idea of a 3D printer to recycle cardboard.

There is a growing market for 3D printing on demand. Printing your own designs, or from an existing model library, is widely accessible these days. The print material is almost always plastic, besides some expensive exceptions. I was surprised there are no real sustainable materials used in 3D printing.

The average person creates about 80kg of paper and cardboard waste per year! meaning there is an abundance of material waiting to be recycled. The result is a 3D printer using paper pulp that only takes a little of natural binder to create an endlessly recyclable product.

The design of the printed objects are using the possibilities and beauty of this technique. The tactile experience, bold lines and print speed results in distinctive shapes. The objects are also durable: Printed paper is surprisingly strong.

How to Make The Pulp

The pulp needs to be smooth and consistant in order to flow well through the 3D printer nosil. This is the method which I found works well:

Rip the cardboard into small pieces

Add lots of water and blend up the mixture until it is as smooth as it can get. then squeeze out the water and make it into small pieces to dry out again. I put them in a container on the radiator.

Once the small pellets are dry add them back to the blender to create an fine fluff. Then sprinkle in some dry wallpaper paste into the fluff and make sure it is evenly spread through the mix.

Water can then be added and mixed through to make the printable pulp. The mix i used was about 70% dry cardboard and 30% water but the best way to judge the consistency is to make it like toothpaste. and if it is hard to mix isto a consistant material, add some more wallpaper paste

Printing The Pulp

The pulp is ready to print. Now it is time to add the mixture to the 3D printer and design something you want to make. Please make sure your ideas don't need supporting walls and are made using strong shapes.

These are the settings to use on the 3D printer. The settings can be adjusted (the fill works best at 70% using crossed lines) but the printer should be set at a speed of 81%. Enjoy!!!