It depends on the brand. The shop I get mine from still uses plastic for their in-house brand but apparently they’re looking into switching to cardboard.
The other solution I like is selling reusable spools that come in half so you can load new rolls of filament on them. Even less waste!
Hope so. Love it. Fuck plastic where it’s not needed.
Many manufacturers have been moving to cardboard. Less wasteful than plastic spools, more convenient than reusable spools.
As others have said those are good for recyclability If you have problems with them spinning on your filament holder, polymaker provided this file for their spools and it should be fairly easy to modify for others. Link
I like them. Only issue I’ve had was self made, dropped a spool and it dented the cardboard which caused it to hang in the Sunlu dryer. Probably print some rings for my next bout of clumsiness.
Some people get uneven extrusions with paper spools, since they can have higher friction against the spool holder compared to plastic spools. Usually only an issue with weak ungeared extruders, i.e. where the hobbed gear is attached directly to the motor’s shaft. But if you get this problem then you can try wrapping the spool holder with teflon tape, or printing a mod that puts a ball bearing in the spool holder.
You can update your roller with a spinning one to fix any issue.
Yep, and that was like… the second thing I did for my printer. Since then I’ve gone to printing out of a warming box, but I still use the roller occasionally and I’m still glad I did it, it solved problems.
I’m noticing more brands embracing cardboard spools and I’m for it
They’re easier to recycle
My only issue is when they’re full they squeak on my filament holder during printing, but I’m planning to fix that… Eventually.
https://www.myminifactory.com/object/3d-print-ender-3-ball-bearing-spool-holder-90265 This spool holder might be a good solution for that. I’m currently also looking to replace the terrible spool holder that came with my new printer.
this is cool, but kinda overkill. I just printed a super simple insert that fits snugly into the spole hole and the problem went away completely.
If companies that still used plastic spools are starting to switch to cardboard, I think that’s a good thing. Not only is it easier to recycle, but probably also lighter (your typical 1kg filament spool weighs around 200-300g), so the bulk should save some fuel for transportation.
Though I personally prefer using no spool at all (during shipping) 😉 Wherever possible I buy Masterspool refills.
the spool is frequently included in the weight of the roll, so you’re getting 1kg either way. you get more plastic for printing, though.
Uh, that would be deceiving marketing, a 1kg spool should contain 1kg of filament…
But hey, maybe my view on this is a bit warped because I only buy filament from reputable brands (and usually from their own store) and not from marketplaces like “big A” where hundreds of sellers battle to be the cheapest.It’s not a “reputable” thing … it’s a process thing. Scales don’t get zeroed every time a fresh spool is loaded. Doing so adds complexity.
It’s pretty common for consumer goods to include the mass of packaging when the product is sold by mass across most industries.
Been getting cardboard spools with Overture for some time. Honestly I like it much more than plastic.
I’ve been getting a ton of cardboard spools, but I prefer plastic - cardboard is incompatible with my Bambu AMS. To resolve I have to wrap the edge with electric tape, use a printed adapter, or in the worst cases (the cardboard is damaged) respool.
Nah been getting rolls like that for a while now.
I mean why not. The spool is useless anyways after its empty, better to use cardboard
They’re not hard to reuse. I’m not a ravenous consumer of filament so the few empty rolls I have are great for Christmas lights, extension cords, etc.
I go through 3-4 spools a month so carboard has been huge for me.
Not new but probably done for cost saving purposes.
Not just cost savings but also not having to throw a more big chunks of plastic in the garbage when you’re done. The waste from support material, rafts, and failed prints is already bad enough.
Eryone has been doing this since at least last year.
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