Melted Filament Scraps Earrings

Those familiar with 3D printing (and Bambu Printers specifically) will know that it can produce a lot of waste. I hate waste. I've been saving a majority of my 3D printing waste for quite a few years and I've finally decided to see what I can do with it! I was inspired by rambosemporium to melt the filament into molds. I started by doing their technique with a heat gun and while it worked decently, I was worried about the space I had to use and the fumes it gave off. I also had some issues with bigger items (coasters) curling up at the corners as the heating and cooling was uneven.

I decided to move on to using the molds in a used toaster oven I got off the internet for cheap. Now, this still produces fumes but it's a bit easier to control and work with especially if you do it outside. You can do this technique with most silicone molds that can handle at least 400 degree heat. So far I have worked with earrings and coasters. This tutorial will focus on earrings and how to work with smaller molds.

Supplies:

1. Toaster Oven - one you will NOT be using for food, just better not to mix these things. Doesn't need to be anything fancy at all. I got mine used.
2. Aluminum Foil - I didn't cover my pan right away with it and so my pan is kind of a mess of filament so I recommend just covering it right away to protect it (even if you aren't using it with food) and replace the foil as needed.
3. Proper ventilation space and/or protection - I'm doing this outside but I'm also wearing a Reusable Respirator Mask because the fumes still come out when you pull out your work and mess around with it. Googles also can't hurt from fumes.
4. Heat Pads and Oven Mitts - you'll be pulling these out over and over again so you need something to pull them out with and something to put them on.
5. Silicone molds of choice - most of these should be heat resistant but I can't guarantee they all are, I will link to the ones I have that have, so far, held up to the heat. I recommend not going too small, at least at first as you get used to this.
6. Earrings
7. Coasters
8. Ornaments
9. Flush Cutter - always a good 3D printer tool to have regardless.
10. Silicone Stir Sticks - Some kind of tampers/pushers to push down the melted filament pieces, so the filament shouldn't stick to it. These worked for me well, and are the blue popsicle stick looking things in the pictures.
11. Pointy Tool - I'm using a pointy tool from this clay tool kit because it's nice for poking bubbles
12. Deburring Tool - this is handy for cleaning up the prints/molds and smoothing the sharp edges
13. Torch - Helps for cleaning up at the end.

Jewelry Findings:

1. Earring Hook
2. Jump Rings or Wire - size depends how thick the earring is.

and last but not least

1. Scrap filament!

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Time to gather your scrap filament. I find most of what you have should work, but if you have failed prints, you are likely going to need to break them down into manageable pieces. You can also embrace some prints. I, for example, used the faulty loon door corner decoration and put it mostly whole into a coaster mold so you could still at least partly see the loon shape.

The only thing that doesn't seem useful here is things like purge lines. Pieces that are too light or too small to work with. (Though, if you were to blend your scraps into smaller pieces, it should be okay if you pour it into the molds together.)

If you are going to be working with smaller molds, like the earring molds I used, you'll need to cut your pieces down further so they'll fit better. I also sorted my by more metallic & sepia colors and then colorful colors. I also found it was helpful to have bits of scrap filament as you can fit these around the earring holes.

You can get your toaster preheating if you want and then fill your molds.

I am using about 400 F and I also had a timer handy.

As shown, I liked to use clipped filament around the hole cutout and then just filled the rest of the mold as much as I could with my cutup pieces. The more you can fit in, the less you'll have to refill it over and over again.

Put it in your oven and set a timer for 7-10 minutes. You'll get a better feel of how much time you'll need as you do it and the more and thicker the plastic in there, the longer you'll need between smooshing sessions.

Once it has melted, take it out and smash it down the best you can with the resin stirer. Add more filament to the mold as needed.

As I went, I usually set the timer for about 5 minutes between sessions. Go until it's as full as you want and I also liked to have it sit in the oven a little longer AFTER my last smooshing session. Smooshing it down leaves marks on the back so once it is smooshed down as much as you want, let it sit in the oven a little longer to get a better glossy finish on the back.

LET IT COOL COMPLETELY!

You don't need to take it out of the mold while it's warm or hot. Just set it aside on a hot pad and let it cool.

Next we want to clean them up.

There are going to be bits sticking off the edges.

For the thicker and bigger bits, I recommend using the flush cutter to get them off. For everything else, run the deburring tool along the edges.

Once it's all cleaned up, I find using a torch helps to do a finally cleaning of the edges and makes them smooth.

Add your findings for earrings. If the earrings are thick, you'll need larger jump rings.