14 DAY TRIAL // Even if you buy a 3D printer, it can get annoying to have to pay up for the filament used by them, since there isn't exactly a great abundance of options, or general supply.
Kind of like it wasn't that easy to stock up on printer ink cartridges decades back.
Now, though, a solution exists, at least for those who know a good source of plastic pellets.
UK inventor Edward Clifford has launched the FilaFab, short for Filament Fabricator.
In a nutshell, it's a big, box-like machine that takes pellets on one side and churns out filament on the other.
A hopper lit keeps dust away from the compartment where you pour the little plastic balls.
Both ABS and PLA plastics are supported, and the extrusion rate is of 1.2 meters/minute (47 inches/minute, when ABS is heated at 170 degrees Celsius / 338 degrees Farenheit).
That means over 280 meters every 4 hours (1.75mm and 3mm nozzles available), all for the price of £699 / $1,142 / €839.