Wellzoom Filament Extruder, Anyone Have One??

[Scott Lichtsinn]

I know this isn't a Makerbot specific question but as there is a large group of us 3d printing nerds (no offense intended lol) on here i would be interested in hearing if anyone has any experience with these?

Wellzoom is now on Amazon, and they are a very interesting looking machine.  They have three different models of extruders, can do 1.75 or 3mm filament, and they also sell an auto winder and cooling setup to cool and spool the filament as its made.  Looks really good!  There is very little info on them online, a few videos on Youtube that are not in English, and the company website has pretty sparse info as well.

I found them on Aliexpress as well as Amazon, and after talking to them they seem like a company worth checking out for their equipment.

Now who wouldnt want a full filament production line along with their printers!  I know i would.

[TobyCWood]

I've been watching these guys for months... almost a year. I've even offered to review it for them on the podcast. I get no replies and the reviews are nil. Not worth the gamble in my opinion.

[Scott Lichtsinn]

Darn...  I also see the Filamake being talked about here and there, but it doesn't look as polished as the Wellzoom, then again you can polish a turd so just saying...

I would like the ability to make my own filament eventually.  I have a source for bulk ABS pellets locally thanks to some friends in the injection molding business, i could make filament dirt cheap, talking like $3-4 a spool if i had my own extruder and spooler.

[Cagey Bear]

I was toying with the idea but figured my low use wouldn't justify the
cost of buying the extruder.

[TobyCWood]

Actually... what I think is needed is the same initiative as was set up for the RepRap effort years back. A truly open source collaborative. The intrinsic need for it is there for sure!

On Sunday, February 5, 2017 at 10:53:16 PM UTC-8, Scott Lichtsinn wrote:

[Scott Lichtsinn]

I know i'm digging up an old post here... But some new info.

So Wellzoom has a new model for 2017, Amazon seems to have the best pictures of it.

https://www.amazon.com/Wellzoom-Desktop-filament-extruder-line/dp/B0747HV3BX/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501578077&sr=8-3&keywords=wellzoom

They now have a full setup with a water cooling tank and an auto winder that not only rolls it up but also traverses back and forth to evenly spool it.  The price is still pretty hefty for the complete setup, $2400 shipped.  But doing some really quick and dirty math, if i was making filament at $4 a spool instead of buying it at $20 a spool, i would only have to make 150 spools before the machine is paid for.  I know some will say "only 150?", but for me i go through 40-50 spools a year, and i could even sell some spools of filament to friends that are into 3d printing, so i don't know, its starting to get into that possible purchase category for me.

$2400 is a lot to put into it up front, but its getting more affordable as the last complete setup i looked at started at $4000.

[TobyCWood]

You are leaving out your time. Filament extruders are trickier then 3D Printing and 3D Capture,

[Scott Lichtsinn]

True, but like anything else I've tried give me a day I will master it.

[TobyCWood]

So? Did you try? Wellzoom and Filabot both have updated products. Thats a good sign.

[Scott Lichtsinn]

Nope, never went to Wellzoom.  I tried emailing them a few times for info, never replied, took that as a sign that customer support might be non-existent either.  I ended up with a used Filabot that i bought and got trashed in shipping unfortunately, but i took that as an opportunity to completely tear it apart and rebuilt it from what was still good and modify it to the extruding beast that it is now.  Its the EX2 without the speed control, basically all the same guts as the EX2 but like the version right before it there is no motor speed control.  But after looking inside an EX2 it was just a simple PWM controller and pot for the motor speed, so i added my own stuff to this one to make it like an EX2.  I also got a Filabot Spooler as well, that also got beat up badly, seller tossed both machines in a box with a couple layers of bubble wrap, it was like tossing them in a blender.  Thankfully the core parts of the spooler survived and i rebuilt that better then new.  Ended up spending a fair amount of time and money on them but still way way cheaper then a new Filabot.  

Currently i run off a half dozen spools a week on average, i don't buy filament anymore just bulk pellets from Filastruder since they have a good price on Sabic with free shipping over $100.