3D printing with used tennis strings? (poly)

[onehandbh]

3D printing with used tennis strings (poly).

Could this be the ultimate way to reuse/repurpose/recycle tennis strings?

The string companies need to partner up with the 3D printing companies and make this happen.

 

[HypnoticLasagna]

I have bad news for you...
3d Printing companies dont even recycle 3d prints / failures / waste filament all that well. It is cheaper for manufacturers to get raw product without the additives.
And if you mean just take the string straight from the racquet and feed it thru a printer, that wont work either, as the plastic needs to be 1.75mm diameter for most 3d print applications, and is a bit more helpful if continuous.

 

[esgee48]

Agree that you can’t use tennis strings. Polyester and Nylon polymers are made from various types of pellets. They are not pure material which basically make them incompatible for 3D purposes.

 

[Insect]

Even if you could print it with the correct shape, it wouldn’t work. The molecular polymer chains must be aligned along the string direction for the string to permit stretching, bending and recovery. The only way to achieve that is through extrusion and stretching while not fully solidified. With a printer you would get a brittle inflexible wire at best.