3D Printing Polypropylene Labware to Save Money

[@alexhamon9261]

Should continue trying some of the more specialized engineering filaments. The Anker isn't going to get anywhere near hot enough, but if you could print with PEEK, it's resistant to most acids and solvents and useful operating temperatures up to 480F.

[@altkev]

This comment seems to ignore the price point of not only PEEK filament but also printers capable of printing such a high temp filament. At that point, glassware is likely cheaper....

[@captainheat2314]

​@@altkev$500 a kg and a few thousand dollar printer will cost you more than a cheap lab setup

[@SmolPotatowo]

@@altkev I suppose you'd be able to make pretty much anything you'd want or need, even if it's some obscure expensive piece. Might be expensive setup but you could make some crazy stuff with it.

[@altkev]

@@captainheat2314 I'm confused by your comment, I think you are saying the same thing I am? PEEK + Printer > Glassware cost.

[@asicdathens]

@@captainheat2314 Any reprap style 3D printer can easily be modified to print PEEK. The filament is not so cheap.

[@BackYardScience2000]

God this reminds me of working in a polymers laboratory and testing different polymers for industrial uses. I dont miss it, though. Working for a company solely focused on profits makes for a terrible workspace. Great video! Looking forward to seeing even more chemware being made! 😃

[@lrmackmcbride7498]

The stock anker cannot print it, but fep filament is designed for labware. It is resistant to solvents and with a 200C operating temperature, you could even print boiling flasks for solvents with a boiling point below about 150C.

[@mfree80286]

If you really wanted to get jiggy with it.... print the inverse of a soxhlet extractor. That's right, a mold. It's the one way you can produce an extractor using the 3D printer that frees you from the choices in printable materials, although it restricts you to the properties of a different set of materials. Epoxy and polyurethane are the first to come to mind, using printed cores that could be solvent or thermally removed when the item's cured, or even the same cores with a ceramic base that could be dried and fired, or a sinterable metal matrix. Possibilities are almost endless.

[@Ritalinergic]

PVDF might be the best material for chemical resistance, although it does come with a higher price tag.

[@jayarmstrong2384]

The cinnamon made the garage smell great! Much better than super stinkers of the past. Mom was happy!

[@JasonFan-qk3tb]

As a matter of fact, I've been researching a promising 3d printer past couple days. It's hard to keep me from buying one with your professional review and such an amazing discount from the brand.

[@AnkerMakeBrandTeam]

We're happy to help answer any questions or concerns you may have as well! - Kiki Chen from the AnkerMake Team

[@GMCLabs]

I already have 3 3d printers and I'd still just fork over the 50 bucks for proper glassware. I've had at least 1 disaster due to failed glassware. 1 liter of concentrated copper nitrate all over the floor! Def would not want to risk the failure of a plastic part. The other issue with printing, is stuff gets stuck in the layer lines and plastics absorbs moisture as well as solvents. You'll just contaminate your next reaction. 700 bucks is also a rip-off for a printer that size.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Yeah, that's why I paid for a real extractor too. But I couldn't turn down such an expensive 3D printer when AnkerMake offered it, and I didn't want to post a product review on my channel...that's not my thing. So I came up with this idea, which I felt balanced my chemistry content with 3D printer use. Evidently, it was a bad call "business-wise", since it took time away from my isocyanide video, and so far, it's one of my least viewed/liked videos. I'm grateful to AnkerMake, and I love their product, but I agree with you: for long-term use, I'd much rather buy a solid piece of chemistry equipment instead of printing it.

[@MrKarlGP]

Now I can use soxhlet extraction to make a decent cup of tea! Congrats on the sponsor btw :) Also... Idea for future vid... synthesize the components of your own hair gel and then demonstrate in practical use ;)

[@djdrack4681]

emphasis on 'decent'...cuz there is no such thing as a 'great' cup of tea XP

[@egg99]

Hey. How about a video on how to make metal salts for colorful arcs/fire?

[@caeli5532]

So you can print extractor on photopolymer 3D printer in ceramic material, but then you must do annealing of ceramic.

[@Pilk_]

Very cool. Would it be better to flip the model vertically before printing? Fewer supports needed and wider base.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Maybe, but polypropylene is kinda weird... the wider the base, the more it likes to pull up, which is why I tried to minimize the contact area.

[@mfree80286]

@@LabCoatz_Science I think this might be the job for a cover and heat control. Can't cool and shrink if it can't cool all that much. In lieu of that, a couple of strategically placed heat lamps to keep the work warm?

[@AlphasysNl]

So can you print glassware? Well, no. Glassware, as the name implies, is made of glass, not plastic. The way the glued joint failed also makes clear that the product won't be clean, depending on the solvents used. Plasticizer, filler, or maybe even the plastic itself, could dissolve into the solvent and contaminate your final product. This could interfere with your desired product, maybe even react with it, possibly making the outcome toxic. Also, since it's printed by layer, it'll have lots of small grooves in it, which could trap product, solvent, or side products, making it hard to clean. All in all, an interesting experiment, but not something to replace real glassware with.

[@savagesarethebest7251]

I wonder if you could use glass powder instead in a powder printer?

[@ericlotze7724]

There was *one* molten glass 3D Printer project if I remember correctly, but valid criticism lol

[@anthonyrickardii6198]

Interesting! Question is it possible to 3D print adapters for to fitted all sizes of Soxhlet extractor?

[@A11V1R15]

I wonder if the results could be better if ceramic was available for this

[@ericlotze7724]

There are some Ceramic 3D Printers, although most use Paste so have huge layer lines etc. “Slip Casting” or something akin to Slush Casting may work well though!

[@DUKE_of_RAMBLE]

Congrats on getting recognized for your awesomeness! _(not sure if this is the case, but even IF you reached out to them first, they still looked at your channel I'm sure, and signed off on the sponsorship!)_ I think you're on top something though! Printing things that can be, also allows you to "test drive" them, in any instance where you aren't certain if it'll work well for you. Then if it does, you can buy the real deal!

[@frostifish]

I'm 100 percent sure you can glue the parts or broken parts together. Hot glue is not ideal, but there's a neat thing you can do. 3d printers are essentially glorified hot glue guns. You can use your polypropylene filament with a good 3d pen to glue broken parts together. It will be nearly as strong as the printed parts as polypropylene bonds very well to itself. Hope this might help!

[@mechadense]

This is really really cool. Building up an open source library of 3D printable glassware replacements could give science another accelerating boost. Well … chemicals to do chemistry with are still darn expensive. Then again the cost of glassware is one factor for that. Beside lack of automation that could also be more rapidly developed (chemputation) … And used for local total synthesis from more fundamental cheaper compounds.

[@kelownatechkid]

This is awesome!! Very cool idea to use polymer 3d printing for this purpose.

[@xxw1ndy]

WOW i love it how you use 3D printer to make your own lab equipments. THIS LOOKS SUPER COOL. I've been wanting to get a 3D printer but wasn't sure which one is the best choice. Thanks for recommending!!!

[@asicdathens]

Magigoo has a bed adhesion glue stick for PP filaments. The packing tape you used is made of PP as well.

[@6022]

My first thought for stuff like this would be UV resin printers, as they'd cure and many might easily be able to go above boiling point. The other thing I wonder about is... if you still want something transparent, which is always a nice bonus, there's easy transparent resin formulations you can use. I think we'll soon start to see completely new designs for a lot of chemistry equipment, as it's generally limited by what can easily be made by artisans blowing extremely hot glass, while with 3d printed designs you can have mathematically calculated shapes that absolutely maximise heat transfer, surface area, or whatever other parameter you might need. You could feasibly have 'glassware' that allowed reagents to flow through thousands of small capillaries to be exposed to some reaction conditions, much like how blood in our bodies can be dispersed effectively.

[@djdrack4681]

considering the source material: borosilicate glass is extremely common and easy to work with...I foresee in next century advances taking place so that complicated or custom labware is just 'printed' or created with the machine that a med-Lrg size lab has in the corner or basement. I would question if polypropylene filament might benefit from annealing methods like some use for CFN (carbon-fiber nylon) and similar filaments

[@6022]

There is actually a glass 3D printer now available. The problem had been that 3d printing glass required a heated enclosure, which was, until recently, protected by a patent, owned by a company who wasn't really doing anything with it. That patent has now expired, and so people are able to make glass 3d printers, and they're making some really cool things with them.

[@arcadealchemist]

wonder if there would ever be a way to use a Glass beed filiment system where you just fill a cone with glass beed powder and it prints with that.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Maybe, I know there are metal and ceramic-laced filaments and resins that can be annealed at high temperatures to yield fully-ceramic/metal parts, so glass might not be out of the question!

[@jansenart0]

I designed a podstakannik for use with 200 ml beakers.

[@carpeinferi]

Probably the coolest siphon coffee maker I've seen.

[@ryanellis4383]

High temp resin SLA would be very cool to see. Would be a lot more temp resistant, translucent, and also a lot smoother internally. Also could allow for more complex and detailed shapes. Formlabs has a table for solvent compatibility for different resins, their hi-temp V2 resin looks promising.

[@yukisfamily380]

This is a great 3D printer. Love the sleek desgin and looks cool!

[@carrotwine3649]

That's a great video and a brilliant idea Makes me wonder: why no company decided to make dirt-cheap (maybe disposable) plasitc labware using more traditional methods like moldind, etc? Given that there is probably a ton of use cases for not so agressice organic solvents. And it also makes us pray to material science to develop some more cool printable super-duper plastic materials..

[@vittorioballeriocastoldi6171]

Neat, but I would never use it unless i need something extremely hard to fine or completely custom bit

[@whoever6458]

Well, when you have to buy a 3D printer, it's still cheaper to buy the glassware, although I totally get that it sucks that glassware breaks because I've broke a couple of pieces in the lab and many glass bongs. Finally, I bought a glass bong with very thick glass and that's worked well. Perhaps there's a way to buy glassware that's thicker too, although it will change it's thermal properties some. In the case of a bong, thicker glass makes it better.

[@duran9664]

$50 dollars 🤯 I thought u would say $500 or more😳

[@Matoro342]

Might be useful for E&F who goes through glassware like nobody else

[@taraxacum6448]

Отличная работа , осталось сделать колбу и холодильник.

[@mechadense]

I may have a quite cool idea here: 3D print PLA molds for silicone versions. Use a variant of oogoo i.e. mix into acid based bathroom silicone slightly moist microsilica (I sucessfully tried woodash instead). This fastens the curing process by OOMs and gives stiffness. No seperation agent needed PLA and silicone miracously don't stick at all I found.

[@mechadense]

To make a window just leave a round or rectangular hole on the side that can be sealed with cheap flat glass and some unmodified bathsoom silicone.

[@mechadense]

There are mixing ratios for oogoo online. Obviously don't use starch as the moisrure carrier. Microsilica might also be chemically vulnerable due to high surface area. But embedded in the silicone matrix it may work for a while. Though surface may soak up some of the chemicals. Thin pure silicon coat inside may fix that issue.

[@mechadense]

Special purpouse fast hardening high stifffness silicone is expensive but maybe still somewhat cheaper than glassware. IDK

[@mechadense]

Time investment effort of casting demolding and post processing is an important factor too of course.

[@Relatablename]

The problem with polypropylene is that it absorbs water very readily and becomes brittle. Trying to fix breakages by welding opens up pores in the plastic as water boils out, which then makes it extremely permeable and not watertight. I've been there.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

You must be thinking of a different material, polypropylene is extremely hydrophobic (it's basically like wax or oil). According to one study, it will absorb less than 0.01% of its weight in water after soaking in water for 24 hours. In terms of susceptibility to moisture, PLA, nylon, and ABS are generally worse.

[@Relatablename]

@LabCoatz_Science I understand the literature, but the quality of the actual material varies across manufacturers. I tried to make some head adaptors with it a while ago, and this was the problem I ran into. It's relatively waterproof until you mess with it. The warping isn't such a big deal though. If you print your objects above 12-20mm of tree supports, the object will be mechanically secured. This method works great when using PLA supports with other thermoplastics like ABS, but PP is only capable of sticking to itself from what I've tested.

[@Relatablename]

@LabCoatz_Science If you are set on using PP as a lab material, I did find some success by thinning silicone with naphtha and painting it on the outside. Real icky stuff though, and not as pretty or convenient as glass.

[@Megabob777]

Thats actually pretty impressive, now lets see you make a 3d printed Bunsen burner😂

[@That_Chemist]

self-fueling bunsen burner

[@Megabob777]

@@That_Chemist perfect 🤣

[@LabCoatz_Science]

If I could print and anneal a metallic filament, that might actually work!

[@Megabob777]

@@LabCoatz_Science would be a great cheap alternative

[@daliasprints9798]

PET (not PETG) should be suitable and is the most wonderful material in terms of printability. HDPE is also a candidate that may be more suitable with some solvents, but harder to obtain in filament form and hard to print.

[@erikbermont]

PVDF is more chemical and temperature resistant than PP and is also sold for 3d printers

[@Skunkhunt_42]

Could try coating a printed polymer prints better with this printer, and has the thermal and structural specs required. Maybe ptfe coating?

[@antejl7925]

What about getting friendly with a professional glassblower...?

[@allenhonaker4107]

How did it do with the soxhlet tube clogging issue? And is the small uptake tobe inside the bottom stronger than the boro model?

[@LabCoatz_Science]

The model was fairly durable compared to glass, and with the cotton plug in place, it didn't really have clogging issues!

[@GODOFEARTHREALM]

That thing looks like a super dope bong but is way cheaper lol

[@CDCI3]

I wonder if you could anneal the plastic to make it transparent.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Maybe in a vacuum, but I'm not sure.

[@highlander723]

Its an interesting premise..... However The danger of having polypropylene impurities in your product.... I know glassware can be very expensive but the good news is as long as you're careful with it you only have to buy it once.

[@charlesurrea1451]

Maybe a polypro skeleton with a silicone overmolding?

[@mechadense]

I guess HDPE is less suitable than PP as its slightly less buildplate sticking more shrinking and more softening when hot?

[@LabCoatz_Science]

I guess, I didn't look too much at it. Polypropylene was really the only chemically-resistant option that was popular enough to have filament listed on Amazon.

[@mechadense]

@@LabCoatz_Science Two other plastics coming to mind are: ★ POM (delrin) infamous for not being printable well. And … ★ PTFE variants which I'm not even sure are sold as filament.

[@MrApokalipse666]

Funny idea but it might work better for microreaktor and microfluidic equipment. If you need cheap high quality glassware I would sugest to look for used or old labware from lab or pharmacy liquidation and universities.

[@______IV]

Next test: Cleaning it with Piranha solution.

[@telotawa]

oh cmon, you gotta share the 3d model you made! i wanna try

[@LabCoatz_Science]

I'll see about adding them to the description here soon!

[@telotawa]

@@LabCoatz_Science awesome, thank you!

[@unmanaged]

get super wide painter tape to print on

[@DJChesley]

Let me get this straight... You're claiming that you believe it to be a good idea to spend $800 on a machine that you need a $30 spool of polypropylene to print a sockslet extractor that can only be used twice, rather than just spending the $50 on the actual glassware that can actually withstand the heat and function properly without falling apart in any condition and solvent, until you inevitably break it? I love most of your videos, but this one was a swing and a miss, obviously trying to keep sponsor happy for the free printer. At the same time, I would have done the exact same thing lol

[@LabCoatz_Science]

I can't deny that I made this video as a means to get a fancy new printer (and it certainly was a swing and a miss view-wise), but I would say my claim was more like "if you already have a printer, buying a $30 spool of PP filament might be a worthwhile investment, if you want/need a specialized piece of labware". Would I spend $800 on a 3D printer? Probably not. But, if I had a cheap printer already and needed a $100+ piece of labware for limited use, 3D printing it with $10-worth of an inert filament might be an acceptable alternative.

[@ejkozan]

interesting, i a glad you used PP XD HDPE should also work you should just weld parts together not hot glue them and definitely with 3D printing i would design parts very differently than how it is made from glass, different tehcnology needs a bit different way of doing things, then it could be printed without supports definitely

[@LabCoatz_Science]

I did try melting the parts back together, but it mostly just caught fire and made a mess.

[@ejkozan]

@@LabCoatz_Science soldering iron or just lighter? XD

[@LabCoatz_Science]

@@ejkozan Blow torch 😬

[@ejkozan]

@@LabCoatz_Science why I am not surprised xD

[@antejl7925]

Borosilicate glass and fuzed quartz are irreplaceable for chemistry

[@rursus8354]

Not reasonably. I tried drinking water from a 3D printed cup. Let's say it wasn't really a cup, just a lookalike.

[@Freeknickers24]

Well i guess sonce the plastics aremt good wnough for you youre gonna make your own 3d printer but for glass!

[@slyfoxchemistry]

Amazing job well done how are you

[@slyfoxchemistry]

That is very cheap we pay 1600 for one

[@hanleypc]

I always find 3D prints are porous, even when i've used TPU and full infill.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Yeah, that has been my experience with PLA, but polypropylene seemed much different. It behaved essentially like wax, repelling both ethanol and water, and the layers melted together seamlessly. Not sure how it would fare with something like hexane or toluene, but it seems like a fairly decent material for this kind of thing!

[@daliasprints9798]

Being porous comes from a mix of insufficient nozzle temperature to really remelt and bond the previous layer, poor extrusion consistency, and wet filament (where the water boiling out makes bubble holes). Solve those and you can get excellent results.

[@unmanaged]

hmm cura?

[@antejl7925]

Glocks are more naughty.

[@marconiandcheese7258]

Figuure out how to make stinky filament.

[@theanthillfromknow.theanop3960]

oh boy i love the idee of you how you print it and do the hole set up in the video. but hearing you out that you used the hot gleu in a hot setup. please you can do beter and your smarter then that no doubt on that. but i see a lot of people on the internet in the diy whit some nice builds and then they use the hot cleu for poor people. no offence in this to every body. but hot gleu sucks. it's spare a lot of time but always fail. in you case whit possible chemicals and the correct filemenst you choice you should know better. but how then to keep up whit the good work. the video self has some potential. i hope to see more about this it is use full in some cases. but please never use hot gleu again. for then 10 dollar more it didn't faol in the part that you make.

[@samajier2566]

Great

[@uncle_thulhu]

Since you like da shtinkies so much, how about extracting whatever it is that makes durian fruit smell like it does?

[@JOSEJR1342]

Yo

[@JOSEJR1342]

Meth?

[@BackYardScience2000]

​@@JOSEJR1342🙄

[@johnladuke6475]

Oh, it's not really learning, it's a thinly-veiled advertisement. Yeah, that's definitely an unsubscribe moment.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Sorry you feel like that.

[@CutecatGoldi]

This time your video disappointed me😢.Just buy glassware is much more time and cost effective rather than buy 3D printer and make laboratory apparatus...

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Sorry, but I was under a serious time restriction (AnkerMake require the video be out by today, and I had only a few days to actually film and edit it together), and this was all I could come up with. I promise future videos will be better; hopefully my next one will be out in a few weeks and covering isocyanides!

[@bzuidgeest]

They gave you an 800 dollar 3d printer for free. At no point can you claim you are not being paid for something. I understand the need and use of sponsors, but honest people don't have to mention how honest they are. Noting the printer is sponsored is enough (which you did). Anything more makes you sound like the next scam artist.

[@LabCoatz_Science]

Let me rephrase then, since that way of saying it apparently triggers you: they didn't REQUIRE me to say I liked it, like some brands want you to.

[@bzuidgeest]

@@LabCoatz_Scienceto be clear, I'm not claiming you are a scam artist. But it's a trigger because anyone can make that claim and the viewer has no way to verify it's actually true. And it's basic scam 101 to say something like that to gain trust (people are really stupid). So your channel would be enhanced by just not saying it. There just is no need for it.

[@richbuilds_com]

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soxhlet_extractor