The Amalgam: A Printer Built From Scraps

What if you could build a precision 3D printer from any two dead donor printers, for under $300 AUD?

That’s the premise of The Amalgam — a parametric printer design that adapts to whatever salvaged parts you feed it. Three variants so far: Scaffold (threaded rods from Bunnings), Mill (scavenged extrusions), and Lathe (smooth rods for precision).

The design lives in build123d with YAML-driven parametric generation. Feed it your donor specs, get custom STLs and a personalised assembly manual.

Early days, but the M10 threaded rod frame prototype is surprisingly rigid.