I was getting rid of some spool ends the other day by manually feeding them in while printing. That way I was able to push all these ends past any sensors and into the extruder for uninterrupted printing. It came out fine but was quite tedious.
So this got me thinking: Do any of you guys splice filaments? Not only would this allow for more efficient material use, but I suspect a print made from a bunch of small segments of different colors could look kinda cool.
I’m primarily printing with PETG, so my question is specifically about that, but I’m sure the concept should work for other filaments too.
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if I want to torture myself and, hum, make a custom multicolor filament, yeah.
I prefer to respect myself, so I have a sign saying “Don’t” on the box of junk with the splicer and similarly bad ideas.
I need a Don’t box.
I’ve tried it a few different ways and the best outcome I’ve had was using some tubing, like this one: https://youtu.be/yuZ0DA8w9XI
I don’t always do it but when I do, I do it this way from now on. The tube makes sure the filament stays aligned, I also cut the two ends at a 45 and try and join them up inside the tube. Usually I’ll save the ends and then do a few rolls at once, can usually get another few prints out of it.
Yes. I bought one of those cheap sunlu filament joiners (I think CNC Kitchen did a video on it?).
Basically, when a spool is at the point where I start caring how much filament is left on it? I put it off to the side. And two or three times a year I just listen to a podcast while I fuse all those spools (with the same material). Makes for some fun multicolor prints when one color ends and the next begins and basically means I have all the “infinite filament” benefits of a multi-filament system without costing hundreds of dollars.
I don’t do much PETG but the sunlu has a setting for it (185C).
Bambu allows you to automatically switch to a different spool from ams when you run out and continue printing, so this becomes unnecessary.
Not completely unnecessary. I have several 95% used tricolor filaments that aren’t wound with the colors in the same orientation so I can’t just feed a replacement in. I’ve tried splicing but it’s been insanely difficult to get them to line up properly while the plastic is still heated.
Yep. I think other manufacturers do this with multi-material units, too. It’s a really clever way to handle the issue and one of my favorite features of the AMS. Spool running low? Just throw a second one on there, tell the printer they’re the same material, and bam. Wake up the next morning to an empty spool and a completed print.
