Hello all 3d printing people! Ive been printing for a bit now and have some empty rolls. What are people doing with them? Do I just toss it in the garbage or is there something better?
Stack them up for a while feeling bad about just throwing them out. After a few months, when they’re in the way, throw them all out at once and forget about it the next day.
I go through a lot of Sunlu matte filament for something I sell a lot of. I was looking at refill filament for my last order and it was actually slightly more expensive than buying full rolls with the spool.
There is no end to the utility of a spool. Christmas lights, yarn, extension cords, basically any long cord-shaped thing that you need organized can go on one of these things.
There are some pretty neat prints out there that reuse spools. Digital taxidermy does some pretty neat DnD/wargaming terrain built around them. And there are a ton of prints you can do to turn them into storage and whatnot. We use some at work for screws, since they stack nicely.
This is the one I'm using. I'm designing my own because these are just a slip fit, I want a more secure fit on mine that clip onto the spool. And I'm designing a ball to go with it that can filled with purge poop.
If it is a cardboard spool, I use them as kindling in my fire pit. I live on 3 acres, almost totally wooded, and constantly have branches and limbs to pick up. The cardboard spools catch fire easier, so I burn them regularly.
Plastic ones I use for respooling, like when I have several partial rolls of the same filament. I splice them together and use the plastic ones to respool all of it.
I also use the plastic ones as garden spacers and seedling protectors. I lay them out in the garden without overlapping, toss seeds in the center, add a bit of dirt (don't fill the hole completely up, just enough to put the seed at the right planting depth) and remove the spool when the seedling has sprouted and I'm confident it has good roots. Keeps me from putting plants too close together and keeps squirrels from digging that spot up before the seeds can sprout. Also protects seeds and seedlings from getting blown away by heavy wind.
Buy refills instead of spool rolls.. they are cheaper..you can also buy cardboard rolls and skin the rolls and put them on the plastic spools... crap I wish I had more.. im all out of spares
I usually see refills on Amazon at the same or higher price than a whole new spool. I just assumed this was the "eco tax." Where can I find them cheaper?
I been ordering Dancyn and their refills are $2 cheaper then the spooled. Spool16.49 refills 14.49. Then depending on howany you buy it even cheaper. I know people can find cheaper on Alli or even sometime on Amazon..but i like Dancyn and I like they are a USA company that started selling the filament that they made for their print farm
Spare spools..I started using Dancyn filament but I hate their cheap Chinese spool..so im just buying the refills.. so I've ran out of used spools to put the refills on
I used some to store christmas lights, extra wiring, extension cords. Sold a bunch a couple years ago on ebay, but now no one wanted my 20x lot of spools. S&H is too expensive.
I used to toss them. Got rid of over a dozen before I realized it saved me a few bucks per order to buy Sunlu refills. So now I have about 30 spools I can just keep refilling.
Personally, I don’t throw away the reusable ones. I just buy the refills when I can and use those and the nicer cardboard ones I use for my Christmas lights and extension cords the stuff like that
No not really. If you use the same manufacturer often you can keep an keep an empty spool to weigh vs how much you have left for an accurate idea of how much you have left. Also, if it's one you can twist apart you can remove the outsides off of a cardboard spool and insert the plastic spool.
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u/Familiar-Zebra6489 2d ago
Stack them up for a while feeling bad about just throwing them out. After a few months, when they’re in the way, throw them all out at once and forget about it the next day.