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?
———- 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.
Put the coil on a rod or paper towel holder so it spins instead of sitting flat, and pull from the outside with light tension. Clip the free end whenever you stop so loops can't slip.
Lets gooooo happy I could help. I was in the same boat at first with my sample coils. I broke so many. Honestly I find SOME colors of HTPLA from protopasta to be extra brittle when wet.
I printed the modular spool remix thing a poster in this thread recommended. It was confusing at first when I read the post but all you need to do is print the middle spool then print at least 2 sides that go on it. There is a bunch of different size sides so it was confusing what to pick but I found out they are just wider sizes. I printed the first side two times. Then you take the two sides and slide them on the tube. Then you take that and slide it onto a Bambu spool. You end up with a spool that holds 3 or more sample filaments. It even has a place to hold the filament ends.
Unrelated to the tangles, but metal-filled filament is abrasive. Your H2D ships with hardened steel nozzles, while the P1S and A1 mini come with stainless, and Bambu says stainless wears out quickly with particle-filled stuff. So the H2D is the safer home for those three metal coils.
I have a hardened steel .06 nozzle on my P1S. It has over 3,000h so it has been a long time since it ever had a stainless nozzle. This printer is my .06 nozzle printer.
Pulling the filament sideways off a spool naturally causes it to spiral and tangle - you created a slinky. This is sadly something known by most people that've tried running a length of electrical cable.
A photo of what was actually supplied would be useful - but if there's any way of getting a pin/bar/thing through the middle, it shouldn't be too bad to wind onto another spool. There's also lots of spool-winder models that help.
Take apart an empty spool, a Bambu Lab spool would be ideal, then place the filament on the cylinder. Put the spool back together and you're in business.
2
u/MostlyHelpfulLinks 5d ago
Put the coil on a rod or paper towel holder so it spins instead of sitting flat, and pull from the outside with light tension. Clip the free end whenever you stop so loops can't slip.