During thermal processing, ABS plastic fumes are not a very good thing to be breathing in. Most ABS plastic MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet) warn that “Thermal processing fumes may cause irritation to the eyes, skin and respiratory tract and in cases of severe overexposure, nausea and headache”. So, one of the very first things I printed was a fume extractor to send the fumes outside.

Finished print of Suction Adapter

To make this fume extractor, I decided to modify a very old “squirrel cage” type blower fan that I had. So, with the help of my trusty calipers, I created some adapters in Solidworks that would allow 1″ and 3″ diameter hose to connect to the suction and blower ends of the fan.

Suction Adapter

The prints came out pretty nice, but I have improved a lot on the print quality since then. They are rock solid, with a 4mm wall thickness, and the cone is at a 35° taper so support material is not required.

Two Suction Adapters

I printed out two adapters because this blower fan was actually two sided, powered by one motor. The initial idea was one fan would be the fume extractor for my large machine and the other would be the fume extractor for my Fab@Home.

Suction Adapters Mounted on Blower Fan

The AC motor is in the center and the suction adapters attach to the two “squirrel cage” blowers with #4-40 screws. 1″ flexible hose attaches to the smaller end of the suction adapter, sealed with hot glue. This 1″ hose brings fumes from the vicinity of the print head nozzle.