this post was submitted on 05 Mar 2024
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Does anyone have a brand of PLA they like that offers refillable spools? I'm digging Overture and Elegoo using cardboard spools but if I could get/print a refillable one and buy just the filament itself going forward that would be an even nicer solution.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 8 months ago (1 children)

My personal go to brand for all my filaments is polymaker. They have a wide range of products to meet all specific needs at a right price. So far I've tried PLA, carbon fiber reinforced PLA, and PETG.

For PLA, I like their poly terra filaments because these are bioplastic, in recycled cardboard box and spool, easy to paint, and easier to sand compared to regular PLA.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

I’ll check this out, thanks! Going to be printing a lot of terrain soon so easier painting is always nice

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I use this spool: https://www.printables.com/model/129989

In the description they list several suppliers for refill spools. Personally I am using “DasFilament” and Recyclingfabrik. Both are from Germany so they will probably not be of much help for you.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

They also have a printable spool with a place for the nametag stickers and a filament gauge, they look kinda neat: https://recyclingfabrik.com/shop/multispool-digitaler-download/

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago

Would be even nicer if they would follow the standard size instead of being 2 mm off in each dimension compared to the nearest “standard”

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

As in, mail the empty spool and they send it back filled? Or as in, they send it unspooled and you spool it up yourself? If it's the latter, that's what I do! I get my refills of PHA unspooled in the mail from a Canadian company, Filaments.ca. They probably do the same with PLA too.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (2 children)

The latter, yeah! My BIL got a Bamboo and they have an unspooled program that looks nice but if you're not on their subscription it's a bit pricer. I'll check out Filaments.ca, thank you!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Last time I ordered from filaments.ca, I could only find half-size spool refills for PLA. Not super happy with it, as it costs pretty much the same as buying it on a cardboard spool, and the spooling process can be hit or miss.

Edit: I do like filaments.ca, just not the spool refills I got from there.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 months ago

Be careful with that company. I bought half a dozen spools of some PLA+ they were advertising as stronger, better, faster and when they turned out to be complete trash, they wouldn't warranty them. They had stopped selling the product, presumably because it was garbage, but wouldn't take mine back.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 8 months ago (1 children)

The master spool never really caught on, but that's a refillable spool.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

3DJake sells them from Fiberology and Formfutura. Search for "refill"

[–] [email protected] 2 points 8 months ago

I know AzureFilm from Slovenia offers some colors without spools as well, at least on their own site