Following the footsteps of our founding fathers, Fargo startup 3Dom USA has now released a filament made from the fibrous hemp plant.

The filament is the third in a line of 12 filaments being created through a partnership between local bio-composite manufacturer company c2renew, and 3D printing filament manufacturer 3Dom USA (an arm of Fargo 3D Printing).

Just as with previously released coffee-based filament and beer-based filament, the hemp-based filament, which is called Entwined, is completely biodegradable. It uses no dyes and has a natural brown hue, with “a large amount of visible bio-fill,” 3Dom USA CEO Jake Clark said.

Corey Kratcha, co-founder of c2Renew, said that they chose hemp due to its accessibility as a crop, and the versatility of the material. It also, he said, has quite the historical background.

“It was what our founding fathers used,” he said. “The Constitution was written on hemp paper. Henry Ford had the drawings for a hemp based car.”

The new video highlights that fact, claiming that “We’re gonna print like it’s 1799.”

Print on.

Hemp is also an easy crop to manage, Kratcha said.

“It’s a tenacious crop and an ecological crop, and it grows fast,” he said.

3Dom USA uses nearby Manitoba-grown industrial hemp for its product, and does not use herbicides or pesticides, Kratcha said. As with their other filaments, the filament will be useful when creating parts for injection molding, he said.

Coming up in their line of product, Kratcha said they will be releasing filament with more diverse mechanical properties. The next launch is slotted for April 7.  Stay tuned.

Photos courtesy of 3Dom USA.