Garden Railway Forum

I have numerous part roll of filament and am trying to figure how much is left on each roll.
My octoprint tells me I require x metres of filament for a print but I have no way of knowing if I have enough left on a roll.
Does any body know or point me in a direction where I can figure this out.
I could weight it but I would need to know the weight of an empty spool (don't have one) to subtract from the total weight to give me the weight of filament.
I would then have to figure out how much a metre of filament weighs most probably by cutting off a metre and weighing it .
I do not have a dry box with the weighing facility built in and am reluctant to buy one just primarily for that function.

This website has a calculator which should give you an answer if you can weigh your spool+ filament. I've just weighed two empty spools from different filament brands and got 148g and 153g respectively, although the calculator suggest 250g for an empty spool.
https://www.webcarpenter.com/blog/163-3 ... n-Filament

While not necessarily what you are after - but a potential solution to the problem.

My printer allows me to pause a print, change filament and then restart the print. I use that facility to use up part roles (but not always successfully). The only issue is I need to keep an eye on things to see when there are only a couple of turns on the reel. If I forget of course it runs out and the part print is wasted.

It is also useful for making signs - station name boards, printed in white, and the last 5 layers printed in black - so neat lettering and no need to paint them.

Trevor

Trevor Thompson wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 9:35 am The only issue is I need to keep an eye on things to see when there are only a couple of turns on the reel. If I forget of course it runs out and the part print is wasted.

I normally do something similar but without pausing. I just keep an eye on it and as the last few inches head towards the print head, I snip it off to avoid any end of reel kinks and then feed in the start of the next part roll. Just requires keeping a bit of pressure on until I'm sure the feed rollers have gripped it.

Anybody tried or had good results with filament splicing?

I found this and might give it a go, its the best one I have found so far..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVOy2CH ... eMakingNow

I've tried several methods, including the one in that video, but had no success with any of them. Of course that may just be me and I wouldn't say don't try it, there is nothing to lose apart from the cost of the tube!

GAP wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 8:47 pm Anybody tried or had good results with filament splicing?

I found this and might give it a go, its the best one I have found so far..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVOy2CH ... eMakingNow

I also found this and gave it a go and it worked well; the joint did end up bigger than the ID of the tube but a little sanding solve that.
https://www.instructables.com/3D-Filament-Fuser/

Any other tips or methods welcome.

GAP wrote: ↑Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:50 am

GAP wrote: ↑Tue Jan 09, 2024 8:47 pm Anybody tried or had good results with filament splicing?

I found this and might give it a go, its the best one I have found so far..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVOy2CH ... eMakingNow

I also found this and gave it a go and it worked well; the joint did end up bigger than the ID of the tube but a little sanding solve that.
https://www.instructables.com/3D-Filament-Fuser/

Any other tips or methods welcome.

Edit; went to the local charity shop and bought two hair straighteners for $5ea, one is a mini, because evidently I am not allowed to use SWMBO's one occasionally.
I tried to do some filament fusing and have good results on the test joints I did my biggest problem that inside diameter of the piece of ptfe tube I am using is 2mm so I end up with a big lump around the join which I have to sand down so it will fit through the Bowden tube on my printer.
I am now on the hunt for some 1.8mm which should give a smaller lump hopefully.
The other issue I have is the springiness of the filament which make wrangling it a bit like herding cats.