14 DAY TRIAL // Anyone knows how easily a toy can be broken and discarded, or even discarded without being broken. Boredom can lead to terrible things after all. This is why piles of scrap and junk can build up over mere months.
Recycling is usually the way to go, but many people just don't bother with it, and those who do might be interested in seeing some palpable results of their consideration.
That's where the ProtoCycler comes in. Created for intrepid owners of 3D printers, it promises to turn all that plastic junk into something useful.
Specifically, it can take any ABS or PLA objects, or other types of plastic, to grind and melt them into filament at a rate of 10 feet / 3 meters a minute.
That means you could get a kilo / 2.20 pounds of filament for the equivalent of $5 / €4 in scraps, instead of dozens of dollars/euro worth of cash.
No wonder the ReDeTec people (the company that launched the ProtoCycler) say that the product will pay for itself in 10-20 spools. That's literally how much money it helps you save.
The ProtoCycler puts all other plastic recyclers to shame
Some desktop filament extruders were made in the past, but the ProtoCycler is the best one yet, as it is priced at around the same sum as the others but is better in every way.
The MixFlow patent pending technology maintains a consistent filament speed no matter at what rate you feed plastic into the device.
Speaking of which, the plastic grinder and recycler is the only part that you need to manually operate (it uses a hand crank). The rest of the device works completely automatically, with pre-programmed settings for ABS and PLA.
Don't worry though, because you can activate some manual controls there too, allowing you to experiment with other materials, colors, or combinations thereof. The software is just that accommodating.
That said, the software is also open-course, so if you know anything about programming you can customize it further and even share everything with whatever online community you happen to be part of.
Availability and pricing
The ProtoCycler, after three years in development at ReDeTec, has been put through prototyping tests for 15 months and is ready to sell for $800 / €650. You can only get it through the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign for now, but if the campaign raises the $70,000 / €57,000 cash needed, you'll see it in retail in a few months.
