Eco-friendly printing with beer, coffee and hemp
This month, 3d printing filament company 3Dom USA in collaboration with biocomposite company c2Renew presented their latest product ‘Entwined‘, a biobased, sustainable 3d printing filament (i.e. ink) made with industrial hemp.
Leaders in developing new materials for 3d printing, this collaboration has already developed rather delicious biobased printing filaments including Wound UP, a coffee-base filament and Buzzed, a beer based 3d printing filament.
Entwined itself contains no artificial dyes and exhibits an earthy brown colour with a slight luminescence. CEO Jake Clark of 3Dom USA says of this biobased filmanet ‘It’s almost iridescent in its ability to showcase different shades and densities within the same printed object. There’s a large amount of visible bio-fill, something you don’t get with standard PLA. It is compatible with major brands includng the MakerBot, LuzBot and FlashForge.’
Hemp vs PLA?
PLA (polylactic acid) is one of the most common materials used in 3d printing filaments. It is a thermoplastic material most commonly from corn starch. Entwined compares favourably to PLA in terms of both ease of use and performance. An added benefit is that unlike corn crops, hemp is a dense crop, requiring no herbicides or pesticides, thus making it an ecological material alternative.
The company continues to innovative with eco-friendly filaments. Up next is a switchgrass based filament, which will be on the market in April. Happy printing!