3D printing with "wood flour"

University of Washington Open3D student Meghan Trainor and her colleagues Juliana Meira do Valle and Kate Lien are experimenting with 3D printing using "wood flour" made from finely ground walnut and pecan shells and wood bark. They're also expanding into 3D printing with iced tea!

A year ago Open3D student Meghan Trainor started doing tests on 3D printing in wood. Later on students Juliana Meira do Valle and Kate Lien took over the experiments and worked to improve the results. The team now 3D print in black walnut shell flour, pecan shell flour, wood bark flour & wood flour. The team uses a powder based 3D printer which is basically a hacked version of a commercial system. In this case the team has used UF glue as a binder. The recipe for 3D printing in wood is to use 4 to 5 parts wood or nut flour and 1 part UF glue. The initial results are intriguing and prove once again that the Open3DP team is really pushing the envelope on hacking and improving 3D printers and 3D printing materials.

3D printing in wood flour