Clay Extruder Concept

Last year, for a college project, I attempted to design and build a Ceramic Paste 3D printer. Although it did not work out, I learned a lot. For this contest, I modified two of its extrusion components, hoping they could be useful in converting any FDM printer into a DIW printer.

The Plunger

This vital component for extrusion can be made in two ways: with a pump or with a linear actuator. In this case, I went with the linear actuator because it is cheaper, but the pump is simpler and could probably yield better results. 

1. The holder.
2. The bottle.
3. The gears.
4. The seal.
5. The cap.

Additionally, you will need a strong motor, screws, a lead screw and nut, bearings and heat inserts.

Note—This design was heavily inspired by a Clay/Paste 3D Printer designed by Chris Wood (2022).

The Mixer

Although some clay printer designs ignore this component altogether, mixing is very important to remove any air bubbles in the clay paste. To simplify assembly, this version consists of only two printed components:

1. The main body.
2. The screw. 

The remaining materials are: screws, more screws, M3 threaded inserts, an extruder motor and M6 pipe fittings.

The prototypes worked well at 20% infill using PLA, although I would recommend using at least 40% for the gears. I tested various infill patterns and they all worked fine (Tri-Hexagon, Lightning, Gyroid, and others I cannot recall). The seal was printed in TPU, 100% infill. 

Remember to smooth all components that make contact with the paste.