Manufacturing and testing of pliers to weld 3D printing filaments

Abstract

The advent of affordable three-dimensional printers has unlocked new possibilities for small business owners and hobbyists to convert their digital designs into tangible objects. However, during the production process, a lot of material ends up as waste because of improper storage or unused plastic fibers. This paper discusses the existing market products that aim to tackle these issues. Additionally, we introduce a specially designed pair of welding tongs that make it effortless to join plastic fibers utilized in fused deposition modeling printers. The paper presents a prototype of the tongs and provides a summary of the optimal welding temperatures for different printing materials. Finally, the conclusion evaluates the strength of the fibers after the welding process based on the results obtained from a testing mechanism.