What it is
A shredder chops plastic into small flakes so other machines can melt and reshape it. We chose to build the open Precious Plastic Shredder V2.0 rather than buy a closed one: laser-cut steel knives on a hexagonal shaft, turned by hand through a long bar, with printed hopper, guards and sieves.
It is the most dangerous machine in the whole plan, so the design work went into safety first. Even the hand-cranked version has an emergency stop: lift the lid or hit the red lever, and a pawl drops into a toothed wheel and locks the shaft (render above). It can be padlocked.
Why it’s paused
On 15 October 2026 we bought a small ready-made desktop crusher and extruder for our own 3D-print waste (see Filament from print waste). That covers the first stream we need to shred. Building the shredder as well, this year, would have eaten the build days we need for the bottle machine and Le Nez.
Nothing was ordered, so nothing is wasted. The design, the quote pack for local fabricators, the shaft strength check and the safety drafts are all kept.
What would restart it
The small crusher is made for print waste, not household HDPE, PP and PET. If the universal recycler needs a coarse shredder for those, we pick it up again in 2027 — and add the motor version then.
Where it would run
Never in the 1868 building. Shredding is loud and dusty, so it runs off site, in a garage, out of children’s reach.
Les plans sont gratuits — the plans are free.