We are always looking for ways to make our products more eco-friendly and reduce our environmental impact. The transparent spools currently utilized for our filaments are made from recycled ABS, identified by plastic code 7. While ABS is readily recyclable and versatile for various reuse purposes, it is not accepted in recycling bins across New Zealand councils. In an effort to find sustainable alternatives, we have extensively tested various cardboard spools, striving to match the strength of our existing ABS spools. A significant part of our new shipment features this newly designed cardboard spool.
To ensure the longevity of the spool and its compatibility with a wide range of spool holders, we have taken additional measures. The outer rim of the spool has been coated with a layer of natural resin(compostable), carefully selected to maintain compatibility with Bambu Labs AMS without causing any issues. Additionally, we have reinforced the inner rim, doubling its width for users who employ standard spool holders that hanging the filament through the inner rim. After all the tweaks, our cardboard spool weight 200+3~5g, which is about 10g heavier than the ABS spool we used before.
We eagerly invite feedback from our valued customers. Please let us know what you think of our new spools and how we can improve them further. Thank you.
December 2024 Update
Thanks to Gracewindale for creating a rim adapter for our cardboard spool, which uses less material compared to the one on Makerworld (linked below). The STL file for the rim adapter can be downloaded here.
September 2024 Update
We've identified an issue in batch DGDJBDZDBF that some of the rolls are wound up too tight, that gets stuck at the edge of the spool when using it in the AMS or filament dryer, which has a very short distance from the filament to the feeding tunnel. Please be careful using filaments from this batch in the AMS or filament dryer. The spool can rotate fine on external spool holders due to long distance from the filament to the feeding tunnel, that does not create a sharp corner from the edge of the spool to the tunnel.
We have revised the winding process in the production of September shipment, hopefully will eliminates this issue.
July 2024 Update
We've updated the glue used on the cardboard spools, it now be able to heat up to 110C without break apart(used to be 80C).
One of our customer Quality3Ds made a spool guard for our cardboard spool in order to help with the off-center issue we had in batch DGDJBCAABG, to make it work in Bambu Lab's AMS. If you are having trouble with the cardboard spool in AMS, please print Quality3Ds' spool guard from here: https://makerworld.com/en/models/551137. We greatly appreciate his help with this matter.
March 2024 Update
We've found some of the temporary cardboard spools(190g) in batch DGDJBCAABG are off center that will get caught on the edge of Bambu Lab's AMS slot in certain angle, which will cause AMS not able to roll the spool freely. Please do not use it in AMS if you found the spool is not able to roll freely in the AMS by putting it in one of the slots and rotate it manually.
This rim adapter should help with this spool to work in the AMS: https://makerworld.com/en/models/175447
This issue will not affect mounting the spool through the center mounting hole.
February 2024 Update
Since we are the only ones using this particular type of cardboard spool, the manufacturer is unable to prioritize clearing the production line for us during busy periods. In order to catch up with our schedule, we have temporarily used slightly thinner and lighter (around 190g) cardboard spools for a significant portion of our filaments (batch number DGDJBCAABG). We have conducted tests and confirmed that these spools are still strong and unlikely to break easily, which should not cause any issues. Moving forward, we will plan ahead and will continue using the original 203g cardboard spools for future filament production.
October 2023 Update
Based on valuable feedback from our customers, we've identified two minor issues when using our cardboard spool with the center mounting hole on a non-rotating hanger due to friction and paper dust, more information can be found here: https://www.wondershop.nz/i/100060.html
