The inventor of this 3D printer pen, Daniel Edwards, is using this design to solve two problems at once. He said on his Kickstarter campaign page:
“We often use 3D printing for our projects and one day we finally got fed up with highly overpriced filaments. The plastic pellets used by manufacturers reach a maximum price of $0.6 per kg while the filaments they sell on to us can reach $200-250 per kg. After paying $100 for a 3D pen and being obliged to buy its filaments for $10 per 50 gram pack i.e. $200 per kg, we couldn’t help but think this is crazy!”
How Does Renegade Work?
Renegade was not only created because of the cost of filament, but also because of the need to save the environment. The result was to fill the pen with recycled plastic. To do this Edwards needed to create a way to cut the material.
Therefore, Edwards if offering a device called a ChupaCut which cuts plastic into single ribbons of either 3mm, 6mm, 9mm or 12mm. Just watch the video to see how easy it is.
It’s also possible to buy and use regular filaments too. Edwards claims that Renegade uses a powerful extruder which includes a screw-feeder mechanism and heating system. These combine to transport and melt the filament while the rotating screw forces the heated plastic to move forward so the nozzle extrudes evenly.
However, both can also be purchased individually (£15 for the “Early Bird ChupaCut”, £60 for the “Early Bird Renegade 3D Pen”). Look here. And scroll down.