Spurred on by Inventables’ “Desktop Factory Competition,” which seeks to “drive down the cost of filament by creating a new filament extruder” the octogenarian designed a machine that turn plastics pellets into printer ready filament.
After his initial entry into the competition was disqualified because it exceeded the $250 price limit, Lyman recreated his machine. "It's my first machine with a few little parts changed," Lyman said, "I resubmitted it, and it worked. It worked great."
As a reward, Lyman received $40,000, a laser cutter, 3D printer and CNC machine. What are his plans for his cash prize? According to Lyman, "I'm going to give half of it to the wife, and tinker with the other half."
With the use of the Lyman Filament Extruder II, users can expect to see an incredible 80% saving on material costs.
The Lyman Filament Extruder II is an open source project and can be downloaded at Thingiverse.
Watch a Video of the Lyman Filament Extruder II In Action:
Read More at Time
Images and Video Courtesy of Hugh Lyman