What do you do with last piece of filament on spool?

[bjorn 9]

I've been printing for a while now, and I'm in the position that I have a lot of spools with only 1 'layer ' or less of filament left. I don't just want to throw it away, so I am wondering how you cope with this?

I tried to weld old to new once with a lighter, but that wasn't a success.

Thanks

Björn

[celso-santos 11]

I think that this issue deserves some comments from UM experts. I too have lots of spools with not enough material to print things I want. We should definetely research a way to weld filament tips so that the weld becomes good enough to survive going through the feeder.

Celso

Edited May 23, 2015 by Guest

[IRobertI 520]

I've seen people make filament splicers. It's basically just a metal block with a hole drilled through it, then split in half. Place the ends of two stumps of filament in the thing, close it, heat it up, push the stumps together, take out and let cool.

Personally I'm way too lazy for that though and toss it out or do test prints with it.

[xeno 108]

I connect the parts with a lighter, and works fine,

I make a clean straight cut, heat the ends and press together,

the trick is to hold it steady until it really cools, then remove the excess material at the sides with a rough file.

[celso-santos 11]

I connect the parts with a lighter, and works fine,

I make a clean straight cut, heat the ends and press together,

the trick is to hold it steady until it really cools, then remove the excess material at the sides with a rough file.

Thanks Xeno. That is simple enough for us to give it a try.

[xeno 108]

you can use heavy books, or something like it, to keep the filament from moving or bending the wrong way.

[bjorn 9]

Thanks for your comments. I'll try welding again too. Maybe with a bit more patience

It would be really cool if Ultimaker would design a filament welder. Can't be too difficult. Or else a feeder where you could set a second filament on standby.

[neotko 1,417]

If you really need this there's a tool called fuse. I was about to buy it weeks ago but so far I don't really need it and it's a 60€ tool.

http://fuseclamp.com

I reqded some reviews and it needs learning to make a clean join.

[mutrax 5]

I connect the parts with a lighter, and works fine,

I make a clean straight cut, heat the ends and press together,

the trick is to hold it steady until it really cools, then remove the excess material at the sides with a rough file.

+1 same here,even mixed colors like that... gives you a nice dual tone part!

[Labern 774]

I keep 1 bit for atomic pulls and some times if I'm printing a part with very few retractions then i just shove it up the tube and push another bit behind it. its worked ok for me so far. to lazy to weld them

[eldrick 65]

You don't need (and can't get) a FUSE - it was apparently a scam, in which I and many others never received anything for our money.

Instead, use the Change Filament feature of the UM2.

Start a print with the smaller amount, then "change" the filament to a new spool of the same stuff. Do this while it is printing fill, so it doesn't show on the outside of the piece.

You need only waste a piece of filament a little longer than the Bowden tube.

[Vaz 1]

I connect the parts with a lighter, and works fine,

I make a clean straight cut, heat the ends and press together,

the trick is to hold it steady until it really cools, then remove the excess material at the sides with a rough file.

 

Tank you xeno.

[valcrow 145]

I too have lots of 3-6 meters of left over filament. I primarily use them for atomic pulls and printing small objects like pins and such.

Or, find a friend with a doodler pen and make their day.

Now the spools on the other hand... I have no idea what to do with.