Parts of two DVD drives were used to make it as well

Nov 6, 2014 08:35 GMT  ·  By

E-waste is a problem no matter how much we'd like to think it isn't. Every broken or otherwise discarded piece of hardware contributes to the slow death of the environment, even in landfills. That's why recycling is so important, and why some people go so far as to have truly odd design ideas for products.

The case of the 3D printer created by Instructables user Mikelllc is an example where recycling plays a key role in the creation of a product.

The item you see in the attached photo, as well as the video embedded below, is a 3D printer made from the parts of a floppy disk drive.

In other words, Mikelllc recycled old computer parts in order to build himself a device which can build 3D objects from plastic filament.

How the 3D printer was made

Mikelllc took two DVD disk drives and a floppy drive and took them apart until he had a whole area filled with their base components. The stepper motors were built from them.

The 3D printer's other parts were made from the internals of a PC power supply, with copious use of a soldering iron and other cables.

The result you see before you is a small 3D printer, smaller than any other on the market and also priced at a fifth of the price.

Although saying it's “priced” might be a bit of a stretch, since it's not like Mikelllc or anyone else will ever sell something like this via retail.

You can, however, acquire all the needed parts for around sixty bucks / euro, which is indeed exactly a fifth of the price boasted by the smallest actual 3D printers in the world.

Unfortunately, you do need a bit of engineering knowhow, obviously. You also have to get Repetier Host's free program to run the device once you've built it.

Some hardware even has to be made from lasercut materials, and the 3D printer extruder has to be assembled from parts (which, ironically, need to be 3D printed themselves).

All in all, it's not an easy process, or a short one, but if you like to dabble and also want to support the cause of e-waste recycling, you can give it a go at any time.

Availability and pricing

As we said, there is no retail version of this product. The plans, however, down to the tiniest steps, are available for free on Instructables.