3D Printed Stacking Parts Trays Using Leftover Filament

[@rookrose]

Just crushed 5 of your videos back to back, instant sub! Keep it coming.

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

thx!

[@Hilmi12]

The rolls I just throw, but left over filament makes great cable management clips. They are small enough to need almost no filament and lots of free designs so I don't need to reinvent the wheel. I also make eyepiece covers for my telescope because I keep loosing them and they to take up almost no filament

[@qasaqqassaq383]

I join together old leftovers of filament with brand new one. To do this I made special guide by rolling thin metal sheet around filament. To fuse filament I only need to insert two of it's ends to this gide, press them together and heat whole thing. As to empty rolls I use them to store spare cables, wires and LED strips :)

[@thelastengineer8633]

can u upload a picture ore something of that that sounds great

[@Snoozyl]

Besides printing small parts from the last bit of filament on a roll i think a good joining system to daisy chain pieces of filament would be ideal to avoid unnessesary plastic waste. I probably have 200g of offcuts laying in a drawer that would be ideal for a functional print.

[@KelemenLajos]

How about calculating the leftover lenght? Cura and Prusaslicer will display also the needed material length for the print. From circumference equation: C=2*π*r => L=2*π*r*N C = Circumference L = lenght of the leftover r = radius of the spool N number of full turns of material left

[@_IanOfEarth]

Not sure this capability existed when this video was released, but the Bambu AMS can solve this too. If you have two rolls of the same filament in there, your almost empty one and another, it can switch over for you when the first one empties. Love this idea too, especially the stacking design!

[@thelastengineer8633]

but does it completly use es up the filement? without letting something in the tube?

[@_IanOfEarth]

@@thelastengineer8633 yes

[@RaymondMcCabe]

I like to make S-hooks with my left-overs. I've also heard of people using 3d pens to use the last little bit, I haven't picked one up yet, but I think it'd be useful for minor repairs of functional prints. Thanks for the vid, subbed!

[@reneledgard8722]

I give my almost empty rolls to my kids for the 3D printer pen. It's perfect for that.

[@RobMayer]

Great video. Will definitely print some to keep the little bits on workbench from rolling away or getting mixed up.

[@JollyRogerHobbies]

Great idea 💡 I like it

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

thx

[@adolphweidanz2143]

I do the weighing thing, I use Octoprint with a filament tracking plugin. and then when I switch filament I mark on the front of the container how much is left.

[@scottschnatzmeyer85]

I just came across your videos and really enjoy the content, and just how relatable they are. The trx4 video is what brought me in as I'm a RC and 3D printing/(badly done) design hobbyist. Oh and that digital caliper would be a great addition to my to kit. I have tried my best to weld together some PLA with.... less than great results so mostly I'll run it down on more tiny prints as I play around with settings as if I hadn't already tweeked it a million times.

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

That TRX-4 is so much fun to drive around! Thx for subscribing.

[@scottschnatzmeyer85]

@@FunctionalPrintFriday heck yeah they are

[@naktaal]

I love these and will definitely be printing some in the near future. I switch colors a lot and have only emptied one spool so far, but I've considered reaching out to knitting groups to ask if they'd be interested in using them for their yarn. I think it was BV3D that had the great idea to turn empty spools into storage containers using some printed parts. I've considered going that route as well.

[@shannonrollins2495]

I like to design and print desk/drawer organization items like tool holders, bins, etc. with the last bits of filament on a roll.

[@austinledingham2597]

Great video! I can’t wait to print a bunch of these. Thank you. I like to use the empty filament spools to wind Ethernet cable on.

[@v8thumpertwin]

I would use the leftover bit of filament to make a pegboard caliper hold for my prize. Keep the great videos coming!

[@GabeUnger]

Great video! You (possibly) could estimate how much is left on a roll if you have a full roll rather than an empty one if you measure it and know that you bought say 1 Kg of material. You could make a table of measurements for different brands/materials and always refer to it. In fact us as a community could even make a test print that uses certain parameters to even normalize different scales and help each other out with making a reference sheet! I really hope you can make a follow up video with suggestions about how to use old rolls. I have SO many and I'm looking for a way to use them. It be cool to make a prop, a robot, or something that would help increase accessibility for schools or something. The only thing I've found them slightly helpful is if you're making large electromagnetics. You can use them to wrap the wire around!

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

Great idea. I'll review the best suggestions next Friday.

[@bradyrogers48]

I'm a new subscriber and am glad that I found you. I learned that I have a use for almost empty rolls of filament now. I love the parts tray idea. Will be printing some for my MK3S+ coming in the next couple of weeks and will be very hand for that.

[@Btolbert]

I do the weighing like in the video. What I do is weigh the full (gross) weight of filament and spool and write that weight on the spool. That way when the spool is getting low I can weigh it and have a good idea how much filament is left on the spool.

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

do you find that the amount of filament that is supposed to be on the spool tends to be fairly accurate?

[@Btolbert]

@@FunctionalPrintFriday I've only completed a few spools after starting this. Those have been within 10 grams or so. Typically a few over as the empty spool weight is a few grams less than the gross weight of a full spool minus 1000 grams. Maybe there are a few grams of water picked up during the time the spools are on the printer? I don't know. I think that my method is much more helpful than looking at the "amount remaining" gauges on the sides of the spool that some of the manufacturers put on them. Most of those aren't even close. If I have a print that Prusaslicer or Cura says will need say 48 grams of filament I can use my method and if I calculate 53 or so I'll feel confident that I can let the print run while I'm away from the printer and it won't run out (no filament detector on my printer). If one prints the same brand of filament a lot (I bounce around a lot) your method would be far more accurate as I imagine that the variation of weights of spools for a single manufacturer is only 2-3 grams at most. For those who use master spools, your method would be absolutely perfect as you would know the exact weight of the spool every time. It would be interesting for someone (ideally someone who prints a lot of filament across several brands) to weigh the gross and final empty spool weights and determine how accurate the stated weights are for each of the more popular brands. There may be some professional printing guys and gals who do this. If I ran a printing service, I would absolutely do this. I imagine that spools are filled at the manufacturer by length, not weight and the better the control of average diameter, the more accurate the actual weight to stated weight.

[@bwselectronic]

Wrapping cords is good. You might want to put some of those magnetic sheets in the tray that hobby stores sell to make fridge magnets. Just cut them to fit and glue on. I haven't done it yet, but I like the idea of parts bins. I've seen a few videos on it. Some people try to splice the filament together. They say with mixed results. You have to make sure the joints aren't to big

[@scruffy3121]

Prusa slicer will actually tell you how much the weight is including the spool (at least for prusament)

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

thx for sharing

[@ashvanes484]

I am definitely looking for ways to use up filament, but... I realized that if I have a spool of the same in stock, I can do a controlled cutover. That is, start a print, monitor it in Octoprint, (I've estimated roughly how much time the existing spool with run for). and as it gets close, issue a change filament command via the terminal. I then go swap to the new spool, and while I do have a little left over, it's suitable for cutting into smaller lengths for a 3d printing pen. Which, I have yet to get, but I hear they are a great way to do some quick welds on prints.

[@Gennrys]

Wow love the use of the parts trays. Thanks for sharing!

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

Glad you like them!

[@NWGR]

You rock. I never even thought to weigh an empty spool and then a partial to see what I have left. I've just been YOLOing it and hoping for the best lol These little parts trays will be in my end of roll print rotation now. My other being a 45x45x60mm small parts bin that takes about 22g. Excellent video, thanks for posting! I never thought to use spare rolls for extension cords either, adding that to the bag of tricks!

[@nathanmarcucci]

I plan on making chip clips of various sizes with my leftovers. I have also considered splicing the leftover for things that I don’t care about color for.

[@nathanielnetzke8758]

Add a spot for a magnet on the bottom and it'd almost be like a parts tray from harbor freight!

[@worldinabubble42]

Great video! I see small holes on the sides. Perhaps use the spools on their side and use them to hold tiny paint brushes if you are painting models or other small tools that are helpful to be upright and separated for one reason or another. Good luck and cheers!

[@webshowpro]

Thanks, thats a great idea. Gt me thinking about what "little" parts I can have tee'd up to fish up spools with. I'm thinking about a spacer system for 5 gal buckets using the old spools. Though I haven't gotten it worked out quite yet.

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

good idea. that shouldn't be too hard to model either

[@fugitiveminded]

Awesome simple but functional print

[@fugitiveminded]

Where you get the calipers??

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

it's these: amzn.to/3zqaBgd

[@guyballard6815]

Thanks for the tray stl will be printing some

[@Schnoidz]

I hadn't tried weighing yet but it's a great idea and I already have the scale. I use the ends of spools on small functional prints when I'm sitting near the printers. I swap the spools when the filament sensors beep. I'm cheap and use every bit of filament. I'll be printing lots of your parts trays.

[@cotharyus]

Cool idea, and don't we all need parts trays? I have several systems for keeping screws straight if I'm pulling a radio or some guitar or effects pedal or amp apart, but often if I have to wait for a part once I know what's wrong, I put it back together to keep things from disappearing. These are for sure going to get made from a couple little leftover spools I have around. I'll be doing that instead of maybe printing another miniature or random clamp bolt for a radio or mic mount, which is what I often do - simply use the little bit left on a spool for the smallest parts of a built or print.

[@Enjoymentboy]

I have never understood people throwing out the short ends of rolls. I use them for things like brackets or other functional prints where color doesn't matter. It's really quite simple to just make sure that both ends of the old and new roll are clipped squarely and then feeding the new roll in behind the old into the extruder. I've never had the need to join them and this worked on both my direct drive and bowden printers.

[@akaibukai]

Like how you take the time to explain your needs and thoughts. What about making the containers snapping to each others (with some kind of female/male lips - sorry don't know how to describe that but it's like having an extruded ring on the outside along the bottom part and having a matching groove in the inside along the top part or vice versa..

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

like a turn-to-lock. . I get it. Good idea

[@ericdaine4982]

I used to print small Christmas ornaments with leftover filament but I REALLY like these parts trays. Always wanted to make one of those desktop organizers out of an empty spool but... I think it would take a lot of plastic ;)

[@agthebeast6407]

I’m a new subscriber. I would use empty filament spools to stack them-glue them-thus creating a shelf. Can I be entered in the competition.

[@MrStuffdude]

Found your design from reddit, I take leftover filament and splice it together using a generic 3d printed clamp and a soldering iron, shave off the excess hump that forms from the splice for it to feed well enough and roll it back on a reel to use when I have a project where an imperfection wouldnt matter. Thanks for .stl im going to try and scale these up and possibly hollow out the center bottom to glue a shallow magnet so I can stick a few to my bench when not in use and possibly keep nuts and bolts in if I bump it Any chance of a video detailing a socket organizer or socket tool box tray? If not any recommendations on one, the few I've printed have left much to be desired, there plenty of successful commercial trays available but the printable ones all seem to be similar shallow circular cut outs. I might just be looking in the wrong places, I think tool adjacent projects like this are majorly untapped for 3d printing. Thanks for sharing

[@bradyrogers48]

interesting idea. is the clamp file you like available online somewhere? would be interested to try it.

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

wonder if a small brass tube could be used in the same, with shoving filament in either end and letting them join in the middle. thx for sharing!

[@MrStuffdude]

@@bradyrogers48 Yes the clamp file is available at that thing place, it seems my comments mentioning it 9 it are getting removed, but 77 if you take my comment and google all the 1 numbers 5 while putting the word thing before it will 6 bring you to it, its an easy print and feels weak but has held up well, there are other models that use binder clips but are bench oriented, this one worked for me and is more mobile in my opinion, good luck, searching for filament splicer should also work, it is not my design

[@Hotsparks66]

I’ll have something for me that I don’t really care that it’s all one color. I’ll just lead one part into the machine as soon as I use up one bit. They actually end up with interesting designs.

[@fadybenmoussa2114]

There is an easy way to use your last bits of filament more precizely: you gotta measure the length of the filament and compare it with cura's estimations cuz it gives you estimations up to millimeters so you can be sure abt that already subscribed

[@MrXJ98]

Love this idea

[@brianquinto9648]

I use empty spools for paracord.

[@FunctionalPrintFriday]

another great idea! thx for sharing

[@design8studio]

I learned how to use tare! LOL

[@geoffakens7591]

Not very creative, but I use my leftover spools for sample filaments. I like the idea of storing Christmas lights on them though…

[@KevinGroninga3D]

I don’t keep all the rolls, but I keep all the ends of the filament. So, there’s this plan to weld them together and do ‘something’ with them…. 😂