# ASTER-C

> ASTER-C is a 450°C tabletop filament extruder built at its facility in the Jigani Industrial Area, Bangalore, India. It turns extrusion-grade thermoplastic pellets, blends and recycled scrap into 3D-printing filament on the user's own bench.

Five early adopters are running ASTER-C in the field. Every figure below comes from the ASTER-C specification sheet and operating manual.

## Specifications
- Maximum temperature: 450°C, from room temperature, across four heating zones (3 band heaters)
- Heating zones: 4 — feeding, compression, metering, mixing
- Screw: EN41B, nitrided and chrome plated; barrel case hardened; 340 mm long, 25 mm maximum diameter
- Screw speed: 0–100 RPM, stepper motor drive with encoder
- Filament diameter: 0.5–3 mm, user-definable (1.75 / 2.85 mm typical)
- Diameter accuracy: ±50 micron, Hall-effect sensor reading the pulled strand
- Cooling: air, PWM-controlled fans adjustable in the GUI
- Extrusion orientation: vertical, gravity assisted
- Hopper capacity: > 2.5 L; spools: 0–3 kg, magnetic spool holder
- Power: 230 V single phase, 50 Hz, ~1500 W peak
- Weight: 35 kg, tabletop; size 250 × 590 × 910 mm
- Control: Windows PC GUI with continuous diameter data logging, historic trends and full parameter control (PC not included)

## Materials
- Compatible: extrusion-grade, non-corrosive thermoplastics up to 450°C; fillers including carbon fibre, glass fibre, metal powders, natural fibres, additives, colourants and surfactants; suitable recycled print and process scrap.
- Not compatible: thermosets and PVC (not covered by warranty).

## Key pages
- [Home — overview, how it works, materials, specs, FAQ](https://aster-filament.com/)
- [About](https://aster-filament.com/about)
- [Blog](https://aster-filament.com/blog)
- [Contact / order / request a sample](https://aster-filament.com/contact)

## Blog
Full text of every post: https://aster-filament.com/llms-full.txt

- [Making Composite Filament With Carbon Fibre, Glass Fibre and Other Fillers](https://aster-filament.com/blog/composite-filament-carbon-fibre-glass-fibre) (Materials): Composite filament is made by blending a filler or reinforcement into a base thermoplastic as it is extruded. The extruder's mixing zone distributes the filler evenly through the melt. ASTER-C supports carbon fibre, glass fibre, metal powders, natural fibres, additives, colourants and surfactants in an extrusion-grade thermoplastic base.
- [Filament Diameter Tolerance Explained, and Why ±50 µm Matters](https://aster-filament.com/blog/filament-diameter-tolerance-explained) (Extrusion): A 3D printer pushes filament by length and assumes a fixed diameter, so any change in diameter changes how much plastic is deposited. On 1.75 mm filament, a ±0.05 mm variation changes the cross-section by roughly ±6%. ASTER-C measures the pulled strand with a Hall-effect sensor and holds diameter to ±50 µm.
- [How a Benchtop Filament Extruder Works, From Pellets to Spool](https://aster-filament.com/blog/how-a-filament-extruder-works) (Extrusion): A filament extruder feeds thermoplastic pellets into a heated barrel, where a rotating screw melts, compresses and mixes them. The melt is pushed out through a die, cooled by air, measured for diameter and wound onto a spool. ASTER-C does all four stages in one benchtop cabinet, up to 450°C.
- [How to Make Filament From Recycled 3D Print Waste](https://aster-filament.com/blog/make-filament-from-recycled-3d-print-waste) (Recycling): To make filament from 3D print waste, sort the scrap by polymer type, clean it, reduce it to small, even pieces and dry it if the polymer absorbs moisture. Then extrude it like virgin pellets, measuring diameter as it is spooled. Expect some loss of properties each time a polymer is reprocessed.
- [Which Plastics Can't Be Made Into Filament? Thermosets and PVC Explained](https://aster-filament.com/blog/what-plastics-cannot-be-made-into-filament) (Materials): Thermosets and PVC should not be run through a filament extruder. Thermosets cure irreversibly and will not re-melt, so they pack cured material into the barrel. PVC releases corrosive decomposition products at extrusion temperature that attack the screw and barrel. ASTER-C runs extrusion-grade, non-corrosive thermoplastics only.

## Contact
- Email: sales@printgloo.com
- Address: Jigani Industrial Area, Bangalore, Karnataka, India