Respool Your 3D Printer Filament With Ease!

[@pirobot668beta]

I made one of these a few months back...consolidated several 'left over' reels into one. My biggest use is transferring filament from cardboard reels to plastic ones. Cardboard is nice enough, but its a porous material, picks up and holds moisture. A very handy tool!

[@DarrenGerbrandt]

I have a broken spool of PETG just sitting around because it's such pain to try and respool it, spool is broken in half. Maybe now I can actually respool and use it. Thanks Brian and Miklos.

[@MrGerhardGrobler]

Now that is a handy tool to make. As someone who needs to respool filament when I only have 1 spool of a colour or type of filament, and I need to print multiple prints. I respool onto other spools so I can split it between my 5 printers. And I do it be hand..... Or the filament slipped out of my fingers and gets caught under other filament leading to a jam. So I re-spool it, by hand..... As I live in South Africa, skateboard bearings is not easy to get hold of. So I will improvise it.

[@salcamp01]

Great video, I made one and one tip I have is that if you have an empty cardboard core from an empty Bambu spool, you can reuse that instead of removing the notch and drilling a hole in the spool. The cardboard center has little holes opposite the cut notch in the cardboard core..you simply put the tip of the filament in that and it holds

[@RandomUser7777777]

Another big advantage is the ability to buy large bulk style spools and then fill up smaller spools. The bulkier spools obviously don’t fit in the AMS or other similar systems and can be less than ideal to use in a lot of situations when not using a confined dry box or materials box. You can just buy a 5kg spool, fill up a 1 kg sized spool, cut the length and then refill the same spool when you run out of filament

[@soggynode]

That looks way more useful than benchies and CHEP cubes. I occasionally end up with small spools with really small center holes that don't seem to fit on anything. I have no idea how they show up or where they come from, I just look in my dry box and there they are. This would be a nice way to get those mysterious little spools of filament transferred onto something useful.

[@FilamentFriday]

CHEP Cubes are just blocks. A little gloop or crazy glue and you can build almost anything you want with CHEP Cubes ;)

[@soggynode]

@@FilamentFriday True. My PC is currently sitting on six CHEP cubes so maybe it's just benchies that aren't terribly useful.

[@meltdown78]

CHEP cubes show basically nothing when it comes to print quality. Any somewhat functioning printer can spew out one that looks ok. And his advice is sometimes wrong or misleading. He also advertises his "magic" profiles which usually make things worse. Modern slicers come with very good profiles out of the box. Just check if your flow is right and that's usually it.

[@MadZaxx]

I really enjoy your videos. Both for the information (which has helped a ton) and your sense of humor.

[@BV3D]

Thank you! I appreciate that!

[@chrislmink]

Thank you Brian I was trying to find something just like this for when I have used rolls of filament that I join together to wind them up onto a spool. I'm gonna print this tonight

[@FilamentFriday]

That’s a great design.

[@nikkolaus]

I haven't had issues with cardboard spool dust in my AMS, but what I have been plagued by, specifically with the cheapo brand Elegoo, is their warped cardboard spools. The cardboard just doesn't hold up long-term, and loves to splay outwards and lean to one side across both sides.. I've been wanting to print a re-spooler for a while... I've tried the adapter route, of printing and snapping on plastic rim bands to the cardboard spools, and it's not really helped much.. Ran into some issues where, when the lid was closed, it'd cause a bind-up issue.. Pretty sure that's also where I picked up a mechanical failure in the rubber rollers on the front of the AMS as well. The rubber physically deformed and was essentially causing an outward bow.

[@miserablepile]

I got a bambu refill spool that was wound poorly from the factory and bulged too much to fit in the plastic part, hopefully this will help me get use out of the dang thing.

[@blutadlerx]

On the carriage that moves the fillament tube left to right, you have that gear that switchea directions. It regularly poppet up for me, so I modified the PTFE tube holder with more clearance, and drilled a hole into the shaft. M3 screw with a washer and now its good 👍 if it does miss a gear i can simply loosen the screw and ajust the mechanism

[@DWIT3D]

OMG Bryan, timing is everything LOL. Just this past weekend, I was re-spooling some Jessie PLA by hand onto a Bambu spool, thinking to myself; "there must be a better way". This is genius and I will be making this for sure 1000%!!! I don't want to rip my AMS apart to do that mod that is going around to use larger spools. I'd rather make this device. AWESOME. Thank you for your perfect timing and your always easy-to-watch videos. You truly inspire me to do better!

[@catfisherboy]

Printed this the day Miklos released the final design, workd very well, Thanks Brian for showing this and thanks again to Miklos for the design

[@croustibat682]

I didnt know i'd need that, until i bought some cheap elegoo PETG filament ...damaged cardboard roll, and the worst tangled filament i have ever seen. Staying next to the printer for hours because it gets tangled often gets old pretty fast. Thanks for the machine !

[@medyk3D]

It's so mcuh fun to watch how it works.

[@FilamentStories]

Genius! I totally agree. What a beautiful design that is equally fun to use!

[@BobPhleming]

Hi Bryan, really enjoy your videos. I'm going to print one of these as I often seem to get tangles in my filament and through rewinding it may be an option.

[@cerebralvision]

There's a motorized attachment for this spooler on printables also. Works great.

[@michaelhenderson7739]

What is that round light thingy that's right above your name in the background and where did it come from? Thanks for making great videos and for all the helpful information!

[@BV3D]

Hi! That is this sort of thing: www.figuren-shop.de/en/steampunk-skull-with-plasma-eye I received it as a gift several years ago. They used to be available on Amazon but most places show it as out of stock. The link I posted shows as in stock. I think the web site it's on is in Germany.

[@michaelhenderson7739]

@@BV3D thank you!

[@turmfalcke]

I have a different respooler but I enjoy spoiling it by hand tried a drill but not much fun as cranking it by hand ✋

[@fookingsog]

Something like this could be made modular to include a filament splicer so you could sequentially combine several partial spools into one!!!😁👍🏻

[@AaronFlaming]

Integrating a filament splicer with this would be a dream-come-true.

[@cmykrgb1469]

Speaking of splicers, I'm trying to find one that works better than the heated C clamp I bought online. Any ideas?

[@fookingsog]

@@cmykrgb1469 I wish *I KNEW!!!* 😳🙄 Would need to be a simple yet clean process so the splice doesn't cause any jams!!!

[@dirtyredwitdacat7074]

Sorry im late finding this but do you have to download and print everything for the parts?

[@BV3D]

Hi, yes. You’ll download and print pretty much everything except for screws and bearings. There are newer versions of this, and I saw one that positions one of the spools on top.

[@mynottaur5444]

Thanks for this, I have loads of pla in cardboard spools I needed to transfer

[@buendiasolutions]

I'd been looking for some way to use the plastic spools. This is helpful!

[@RadTechDad]

I printed it, but i'm having trouble in that it's hanging around the ends for too long. I took a look at the troubleshooting video too, but it doesn't really help. I might try and reprint the gear and also put in some heat sets to see if that helps.

[@CaffeinatedFrostbite]

i was taking apart a spool, found out my plastic spool was too big to fit in the cardboard, and then had my filament go everywhere. im building one of these to avoid this ever happening again.

[@christopherlarime4095]

Very cool vid and print. Cant wait to print my own!!

[@davidrandall4001]

Bryan, good stuff and so very useful. Thank you for letting the community know that this is out there.

[@C1Ansy]

This really grinds my gears

[@diegomateosdiaz4815]

Hi, can you tell me what the green filament is that you have on the table during the video please? What brand is it, material and color? Thank you very much.

[@midnightrider379]

I don’t have the arms on my p1p but this is really neat. I also noticed the Jessie pla spools are a bit bigger because they don’t fit in my diy filament dryer containers.

[@lucase764]

My last Jessie PLA order had 3 different spool types in it. According to them, they have settled on a cardboard spool, so hopefully the size will be fixed in the near future.

[@Vandel212]

This insterests me becuase I have a bunch of almost empty spools that I could never use for a single print. Combining all of them into 1 by melting the ends together could be cool.

[@RobSandstromDesigns]

I have a spool that is totally broken as I tried to figure out how to transfer to a bambo spool and messed things up. I also have several 250 gram sppols I can't use in my AMS - looks like this may be the solution for using those smaller spool. Any other way to use smaller spools that you have shared?

[@ascabusi]

Can it be mounted to a desk?

[@TechieSewing]

I've been eyeing this cute machine without any need for it, because, like you said, just look at those gears! Love the video :)

[@richardmahoney4531]

cool stuff on the shelf Bryan lol !! - ty

[@brianbordenkircher52]

Can I use this for a Bambu Labs A1 AMS Lite?

[@BV3D]

Hi! Yes, it's just a way to transfer filament from one spool to another. As long as the spool you're winding the filament onto will fit securely on the AMS lite, you should be good to go! Also - this design has been improved since I made a video about it, so there are newer versions of it. I still use this one because it still works. 😊

[@MrTriMurda]

Where does one download or purchase this device? I'm using my creality (I think) and my Bambu is to grand. Pls advise and thank you.

[@BV3D]

@@MrTriMurda Hi, all links for the files and for things like bearings are in the video description. Thanks!

[@Armor3dprinting]

i literally printed this last night. going to respool my atomic filament that i have to some bambu spools.

[@michaelrobinson9643]

I like this because of the feed guide. It's my main complaint of many. It seems to only take a few minutes for a spool. Nice :) I *WISH* I'd kept more plastic rolls when empty... :(

[@BillBongle]

Great job on the video Bryan!

[@John-NeverStopLearning]

This is great! Can be used for filament splicing, and one modular Part for an filament extruder. I have a lot of 608 bearings. I have gotten them from the 3 1/2 in. disc drives, been taking apart for metal recycling.

[@torchcrawler768]

omg thanks for this comment I was about to buy some then remembered that I have drive pieces I hoarded a while age 😂😂😂

[@richmagda553]

Brilliant! Thanks Bryan!

[@BV3D]

Glad you liked it!

[@magicrincevent7624]

what about a drill replacement for the cranck?

[@tobie2]

You know, I printed out the whole thing and so far I'm 0-2 in things fitting. M3 screws dont seem to fit in knobs and handle doesn't fit together. Is there another file besides that one for this winder?

[@asakidd7155]

is there solution to 'if a spool of filament comes off the roll'? I opened a refill pack of bambu lab filament and cant figure out how to get it untangled and back on a spool

[@RussW51]

I cannot get the filament guide, the one with the half gear to work properly. It goes one way, but will not return. I have tried several gear teeth positions, but nothing I try seems to work. Any suggestions?

[@kibbycabbit]

Fun fact, for P1S and X1C users, move large base print to right side of build plate away from enclosure air blower. Also, don't reduce cooling fan, you'll need it for high quality bridge.

[@Dragon-Smoke-29]

downloaded the plans, but there are 4 towers, it only needs two to hold the spools, does it matter which two you use?

[@joeyhouben3270]

Is there a support needed frontje main construction or Is it all printed as it is?

[@mikehoutz7933]

Nice bit of kit, I'm slicing the frame now for the sidewinder. fibered petg. That switching gear might get done on the SV06, (I have my sovol "diassemble/repair/upgrade/align/reflash cerification now ) in this sample of delrin I have. Nice vid Bryan, per normal. I wanted to thro in a couple other uses that had my interest piqued. Short ends of common rolls. we all have a bunch of the 100 gram left of fav color of fav filament. And we say we'll line em up and use the runout sensor...... But, before hitting print the equation...... save $3 of material~ lose a 8 hr print has that little voice saying dude,.. fresh roll, huh? so I got one of those $9 splicers, that, and the respooler, make sense to me. Also have an old plastic spool with a busted rim, and a bore bigger than the coarse thread hub centered holder. those rolls vaccum packed at 3 bar, ya set em down wrong and the cardboard caves in. this might give em use. Love the poly maker hack.....I use that stuff a good bit.

[@paulcumber4732]

wow that is so cool BV3D

[@grlygirl1264]

I assume this will work with any spool not just AMS??

[@BV3D]

Almost any spool, yes. I just have a fair number of those Bambu Lab spools hanging around.

[@shroomy7199]

Thank you Bryan for the video and the link this is awesome You can probably join all your odd bits of filament and make spools up

[@jespernohr]

Would have loved to see the video include slicing, settings etc.

[@Techready-ws2wr]

Hey Brayan. I’m might want to upgrade my 3d printer and there’s so many options and I would like to know what you would recommend. I would like a fdm printer over a resin one. So far I kinda like the Flashforge Adventurer 4 and Ender 3 s1 pro. Are those good one, or any others that would be better? My current printer is an Ender 3 v2, so I have some experience Thank you

[@salazarcosplay]

Does it work om 3kg spools

[@BV3D]

You can respool *_FROM_* a 3kg spool, but not *_TO_* one. The 3kg spool is too big to fit onto the respooler.

[@shaunwatts6114]

Excellent! Exactly what I needed!

[@trebory6]

What's the brand of that green filament?!

[@2008hokh]

Can I have the step file ? Great ideas 👍👍👍👍

[@AA-xu4vd]

The winding would probably be more clean if you used something stiffer than the bowden tube since the bowden tube moves around so much during the winding process.

[@michaelrobinson9643]

Every 3d print video I have watched today is sponsored by PCB Way... that company is really pumping their advertising to get market share. I wonder what they need to offer as sponsorship arrangements on channels to get onboard?

[@SettlingAbyss96]

Not sure but they’re a good company not like some of the other shilling ads. Been using them for years high quality stuff and their prices are some of the best.

[@Henners]

They’re honestly a great company for anybody as a hobbyist or making small runs.

[@turmfalcke]

I have used JLCPCB for PCB manufacturing they have the same service as PCB way need to try pcbway next time when jlc is out of stock for my components but jlc is nice to

[@dumashernandez5125]

Yes they are good I would give my life for PCB Way

[@sausage5849]

I would find that really useful if it had a meter counter on it too, so I could measure my small part spools.

[@SaveTheSunF1R3x]

You can just weigh your spool.

[@thorstenrohde1974]

Could you share the STL or a link to the @-@ in the background?

[@AnthonyUDT]

Man I wish I could just buy one of these, too bad about it’s license I’ll just have to plan a weekend to get this all put together looks like a good design 🎉

[@t1mblumer]

I stopped cutting my hair at the beginning of the pandemic, so now I feel like I'm tied with Bryan length-wise. Always waiting to see which one of us cracks first. As always, great video!

[@MartinJahn]

Prusament doesn't need filament clips because they have the best way of attaching filament built in. But they don't have the cheapest filament. So when I cheap out I could use this and get rid of all of mine filament clips.

[@Ho-Lee-Chit_Fu-Kin-Fast]

IMPORTANT TIP: Don't respool directly on bambu spools. Because then you'll wrap the outer part of the source spool to the inner part of the target spool resulting in the filament having way too much stress in them. It can cause mayor filament breaks. First spool onto a third spool, and then spool to the bambu spool.

[@BV3D]

That's a good tip! Thanks!

[@nrdesign1991]

Edit: PSA - Do NOT try fitting a Polymaker spool into a bambu spool, it will eventually slip down the side and ruin the entire spool of filament. I was considering making one of these spoolers to respool polymaker PLA, and you just happen to mention that it fits on a reusable spool :D Low and behold, it pretty much does, the cardboard core is a bit larger than the center though.

[@onerazz3115]

Nice to see you. this is a helpful item and i like to print things that help me in some way. Thanks.

[@matttyson8059]

Great video Bryan, this can be quite risky though. If we rewind the filament onto any other spool we will be forming the filament to a different curvature then it was originally manufactured with. Filament which was wound around the circumference of the spool is now going to be strained as it is tightly wrapped around the spool core. The strain over a prolonged period of time can cause creep failure and fracturing throughout the entire spool.

[@mikedixonphoto]

I wonder if heating the filament for a while (like drying it for a few hours) before transferring it would make it re-match (I don't know the right words) to the new spool?

[@randallblake1213]

I’m guessing this would only be a problem for brittle filament. I will find out pretty soon!

[@matttyson8059]

@@randallblake1213 yes brittle, high stiffness materials or those that don't handle creep well. Winding from a full 3kg spool down to 1kg spool is enough strain and difference in curvature to snap PLA+ formulas like eSun, happens after four or so days.

[@matttyson8059]

@@mikedixonphoto yes in theory heat might be able to relieve the stress to prevent creep failure. Time and temp would very much depend on the material, spool and winding method as I imagine the strain would vary depending on those factors.

[@ShimafromMS]

Just rewind it back onto another spool. It won't creep/ESC in the 5 minutes it takes you to repeat the process.

[@cos2mes]

purple ice and jessie neon green!!?? what brand?! please!!!

[@1stclassmedia844]

Having a hard time trying to understand the actual point of this. Ok yea transfer leftover filament to another spool, but are you mending the leftovers to each other?

[@solarbirdyz]

oh this is brilliant. i had to respool some filament a few weeks ago due to spool damage and this would've been so much better holy hell. Thanks for posting about it!

[@Jaredog2006]

I can link form your?

[@Tavdog]

The filament guide should move slower towards the end of the process though shouldn't?

[@OldCurmudgeon3DP]

Add a motor and a runout sensor. 😜

[@musicdad]

I thought about trying that.

[@zen_139]

I think you can use some drill for that, it would be easy

[@philippemaertens4052]

Bryan, what material should it be printed in ? Pla ? Petg ? By the way, love your channel and your video's. Keep it up !

[@StapleGod]

love ur shirt!

[@brettdavisppg]

Same!!!🎉

[@BenEBrady]

Thanks for a great, useful video, Bryan. This is totally awesome.

[@ronm6585]

Thank you.

[@Lyoishi]

My understanding was that multicolor filament loses part of the effect when the color is no longer aligned on the spool, is that not the case? I have just been using a drill and a spool adapter, but getting an even tension and clean back and forth is kind of annoying. This looks like a lot of plastic but does solve the clean winding. Any suggestions on joining spool ends or remnants?

[@leemaxwell5035]

Add a motor and a filament runout sensor and let it run.

[@Sergiodj453]

Already downloaded and in the process of printing one!❤

[@mikejones-vd3fg]

That "eco friendly" cardboard spool no doubt ruined some animals habitat when that tree was cutdown, meanwhile that "evil plastic" bottle thrown out gave a new home to another. Id argue plastic is more eco friendly provided its recycled. And it doesnt even have to be as that plastic pool holder has a chance to be reused without any further energy input like recycling paper requires to make anything useful again.

[@BillyTpower]

"Earth First" we'll log the other planets later

[@rcmaniac25]

I still say it's a design flaw of the AMS. But as for the winder, I do love it for it's sleekness. I may have to copy part of it when I eventually redo my own filament winder (which I did using a Kitchenaid Stand Mixer), and especially the pretty winding, as that was one thing I went "I'm not thinking about right now".

[@archNagel]

People will see this and still think that it is possible for spools to come tangled or with knots from the factory.

[@richtherealist6280]

It is, the last few spools I’ve used from Amazon ( their filament brand) I have had issues with tangling, making me constantly have to adjust and watch the print. This is what brought me to this video, and this happened to me a total of 4 times within my little over a year of 3d printing.

[@PrinterMcgee]

If you think that's great you should check out the motorized remix. It was made by a super genius 😂.

[@BV3D]

For those interested: kzbin.info/www/bejne/omexdmOkoK-Uias

[@gstrickland560]

The irony of the community of plastic creators demanding that their supplier of plastic use less plastic 🤣🤣

[@BV3D]

We're an odd group for sure. 😁

[@AirJAPE]

This is brilliant!

[@rjds1800]

The hair is still glorious

[@tvideo1189]

Just one of the reasons I'll never buy a bamboo anything. The Appel computer of printers, trying to lock you in to expensive consumables.

[@BV3D]

Hi, there's no requirement to use Bambu Lab filament in a Bambu Lab printer. I use third party filament in my Bambu Lab machines all the time. The respooler is useful for the occasions when a spool rim is damaged or a spool just doesn't physically fit within the AMS unit.

[@miccullen]

LOL, new levels of cluelessness

[@guidomersmann9744]

Respoolimg is dangerous. Filament has a natural curl and when respooling you spool a bigger curl diameter to a smaller diameter. As a result the filament on the target spool is unter constant stress, as unlike during manufacturing the filament is not warm. After some time you will experience broken filament sections on your spools.

[@CarpeUniversum]

Dangerous? Really?

[@guidomersmann9744]

@@CarpeUniversum Dangerous for the filament, yes. It will be rewinded with tension and break.

[@CarpeUniversum]

@@guidomersmann9744 well my options are to throw away an unspooled spool, or rewind it. I don't think I'd mind if the filament snapped a few times. These Bambu printers will just pause and resume anyway.

[@guidomersmann9744]

@@CarpeUniversum I simply unspool the stuff (aka create a sample size) and use it for small prints or dynamically change filament to create something colorful. Usually these are prototypes or just invisible functional parts. Like thing:4599123 on thingiverse, which instantly went from prototype to functional print. :D

[@VagabondTE]

Find it funny 3D printing people often overthink problems and could use a better understanding of simpler tools. I'm trying to convince somebody in the recreator community to build and all mechanical version of their bottle filament maker but they can't wrap their head around it. They think Clockwork mechanisms don't have any power and don't understand that it's just clocks that are built that way. They literally have infinite possibilities at their fingertips and their first thought is how can I wire an Arduino to my hand soap dispenser.

[@geauxracerx]

Cardboard spools are the worst. 97% of them get damaged in delivery 🤬

[@nathancarbo]

Never had one damaged before, and they're easier to recycle

[@geauxracerx]

@@nathancarbo I go through 5-10 spools a week and 99% of the cardboard spools I get arrive damaged on the edges. Which causes them to not roll on my edge rolling spools. The worst part is that aren’t actually a standard circumference and I keep having to print new rings for roughly 30%. It’s like they are free hand cutting the spoils. The only plus is that I get to use those rings as a test print, but it’s annoying and the stupid rings end up being a waste in the end when they don’t fit exactly on a newer roll. I’m not anti cardboard spools. I just need them to maybe beef up the shipping boxes to ensure they don’t get bent in transit.

[@ugetridofit]

The brains of some people amaze me. Print 2 lbs of PLA, but complain that the spool is plastic too, and want cardboard instead. Ya, that makes allot of sense. Lets cut down more trees.

[@BillyTpower]

"Earth First" we'll log the other planets later

[@crowguy506]

It needs to be spooled twice to prevent spiraling out. And it will suffer with every spooling.

[@manfredzimmer1199]

👍👍👍

[@VagabondTE]

Btw.. Nice shirt /)*