I saw this on my google feed. This guy basically ground up coffee grounds, put in some gum to make a paste, then extrudes it using a syringe to make stuff. Apparently, it air cures and becomes relatively strong.
Hoping to tempt one of you geniuses to reverse engineer the design; the university website didn’t have any files that I saw.
3D printing on caffeine - YouTube
3D printing with coffee: Turning used grounds into caffeinated creations | CU Boulder Today | University of Colorado Boulder
They were at RMRRF this year, I took some pictures and talked to them about it.
Dude, that’s pretty cool! Seems like they have a partner that might actually sell a kit or something. Count me in!
I’m looking forward to reading more information. How long does it take to degrade in the ground, how strong is it compared to PLA, how long does it take to get to “air dry”? So many questions lol. Guess I’ll have to check back in occasionally to see their updates.
Seeing the atlas badge gave me a tip. Here’s a paper on it for anybody interested.
Designing a Sustainable Material for 3D Printing with Spent Coffee Grounds (acm.org)
short answers are its like half as strong as PLA, takes about 2-3 weeks to biodegrade, and 2 days to air dry. Shrinkage is around 2%.
I don’t think currently you can use the prints for much. They are just printing with a syringe and a tube. The stronger ones were covered with something but still even a planter might be a stretch of a use. Not ready yet.
Think of it this way. Most additives are stranded. This is small particles, so basically it is less strong as the paste you add to it. The neat part about this is it breaks down quickly, printing with food, no real use yet as I see it.
Maybe not planters but seed trays. Start some vegetables in the green house and then just put the whole plant and coffee ground print into the ground. No need to take the plant out of the tray.
Also single use drink cups. For anyone not on the go, get a printed coffee cup for your coffee and then chuck into the compost bin. Maybe.
But yeah, biodegradability and longevity are hard to achieve together lol
