In this post I’ll be exploring the production of biogenic fillers for use in our recycled Marine Nylon™ 3D Printing filaments.
Put another way – can we use ground up shells instead of other mineral fillers, such as precipitated calcium carbonate or ground limestone?
Before I go on, all the shells in this program were generously donated by the Fal Fishery Co-Op SavingEster project – visit their crowdfunder for details. The aim here is to try any use shellfish farming wastes rather than rely on collected or caught ‘wild’ shellfish, that said if we can help reduce invasive species then why not 😉
So what did I discover ?
Scallops are really tough little critters !! Probably because they can actively swim. If you’ve never seen that in action check it out on this link. Too tough for me.
Mussles are quite easy to crush because of their thin shells. However they have a high biological content and their beard or byssus could create issues later in the process.
The stand-out in this first pass test are the Porthilly and Pacific Oysters. They have quite a soft shell, but thick, so lots of material per shell. Also the colour is a very pretty light pink that should compliment our Porthcurno blend.