extruding 3d printer material into molds

[Pacifist]

Does anybody know if its possible to extrude plastic such as abs from a 3d printer into a mold to make a keycap? Only issue I see with it is clogging and solidifying before it reaches the bottom

[mkawa]

what you're describing is aka injection molding. filament extruders can't handle this for a number of reasons, but the primary one is that filament deposition mechanics are not built to handle backpressure.

[jacobolus]

You might find http://www.reddit.com/r/ResinCasting/ useful.

If you want to do injection molding, I think you’ll need some fancy expensive machinery.

Then again, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/210417487/bench-model-plastic-injection-machine

[Matt3o]

You might find http://www.reddit.com/r/ResinCasting/ useful.

If you want to do injection molding, I think you’ll need some fancy expensive machinery.

Then again, https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/210417487/bench-model-plastic-injection-machine

great resources thanks! sooner or later I gotta try it

[mkawa]

there are a couple of "desktop injection molders", but they're basically low pressure casters. actual injection molding needs basically room-sized machinery and extremely high, dangerous pressures.

[Matt3o]

every time mkawa replies to a thread, a unicorn dies...

let us dream, mkawa!