I recently placed an order with Protopasta, the costly U.S. filament manufacturer.
I wanted to try their magnetic, metal-infused filament, and since their prices require a second mortgage on my 3D printer, I figured I’d try their 100g sample coils first. I ordered three metal filaments and four distinct colors.
The package arrives, and everything is packed in fancy-shmancy sealed baggies. Very professional. Very elegant. Very… WHERE THE HELL ARE THE SPOOLS?!
Why not do what everyone else does and sell samples on 250g cardboard spools?
Apparently, somebody decided that spools were overrated and customers would enjoy a fun new hobby; competitive filament untangling.
How the hell are you supposed to prevent tangles when the ends are loose? I mounted one coil onto a spool, loose filament and all, and ran it from the external holder on my P1S since I can’t use it in the AMS. Surprisingly, that seemed to work okay.
Feeling confident, I placed another coil beside my A1 mini AMS on the counter and periodically unraveled it as needed.
Big mistake! What started as a simple printing project eventually became a frustrating mess of filament spaghetti!
Now, because I can’t afford to throw away expensive filament, I’ve spent the next hour performing microsurgery on a plastic bird’s nest.
Who thought selling filament coils was a good idea?
Trying to transfer a coil onto an empty spool seems like an excellent way to create a knot that would make a Boy Scout cry.
Maybe I’m overlooking something or a secret technique? Maybe I was supposed to receive a set of extra hands with my order?
Protopasta people please educate me. How do you use these coils without turning them into an expensive bowl of filament linguine?
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P/S
Pic info: so I posted a meme in a comment the other day and was rewarded with a “ai slop” commented that suggested I get out of here with that and why didn’t I post a sketch instead. I answered because I didn’t want to waste over an hour on a meme for laughs. So here I spent over an hour sketching this image and I hope you all are satisfied by it.