Wooden Filament? Yes!

We're not kidding. It really is filament made of wood - and you can print actual wooden objects with it. 

 

Developed by Thingiverse user Kaipa, the "LAYWOO-D" filament is a hybrid mix of recycled wood particles and secret binders. You may use this material in RepRap-style 3D printers at a temperature of between 185-200C, similar to PLA melting temperatures. 

 

Incredibly, objects produced using this filament apparently act and even smell just like wooden objects. You can saw, drill, sand and paint them. During printing the material doesn't warp like ABS plastic so often does. 

 

At the moment the LAYWOO-D is a bit rare. You can purchase only 3mm diameter filament from a German site or on eBay in very limited quantities. And by limited, we mean 0.25kg, or about half a pound. You'll pay about €18 (USD$23) for that small amount. 

 

The reason for the small quantities evidently is demand. We can understand the rush; the novelty and utility of wooden printing is tremendous.

 

We think this could make things pretty interesting for RepRap owners, as they can now make a wide variety of wooden objects that could be combined with traditional wooden construction to make even more interesting stuff. 

 

That is, if the supply of LAYWOO-D still flows. 

 

Via German RepRap, eBay and Ponoko