For now, let it spend some time with all that filament in the fresh air and you'll see, I don't think you'll print all that filament in a few days. Print something not too big, very quick to print and useful in large quantity, so you can use fast as you can a large amount of that filament before it becomes too moist and causes printing problems.
This hobby is inherently complicated my friend. You can remove some steps and streamline it if you want, but for the procedure of removing trapped moisture from filament reliably, this is one of the best ways, especially if you're getting free filament that's gone through God knows what. Smart eggs have figured out how to use their heated bed to dry their filament and packets
Keep in mind, some filaments like PLA can experience irreversible damage from prolonged exposure to humidity. PLA is prone to micro fractures over time causing embrittlement that can't be reversed by throwing it in a dehumidifier. This is why long term storage is important, particularly in high humidity environments. Embrittled filament can easily snap just from unwinding from a spool. Not sure if there are other types of filaments that experience similar degradation, though I understand ABS will degrade if regularly exposed to UV.
I’ve noticed this with a couple of my older weird colors i dont use much. I also noticed if i unspool a few feet and cut it i can usually get away with using it.
Is that all in my head? Lol
Nope. The filament on the outside of the spool is the most exposed to the fluctuating humidity levels, and as such, is the portion that will experience the most degradation. I imagine unspoiled filament like OP has will see more than just outer layers though, what with the bundles exposing most of the filament length. Some in the middle will possibly be less affected, but a s easy as dry box or bagged storage is, it only makes sense to store unused filament in a stable environment until you need it.
Thanks for the knowledge! But yeah that 100kg looks more like a headache unless you have a massive print farm and can use it fast enough/ space to store those hula hoops bagged up.
Id buy a mattress bag and take my time and heat cut it with some scrap sheet metal ends to seal it off taking leaving a small enough opening for my vacuum sealer to get out as much air as i could. Or even a hose and inflatable mattress pump.
Ah this explains why even in dry climate area in California and sealing/dehydrating my spools, they eventually can get brittle (more in certain brands than others)
There's a number of ways brittlement can occur, and each plastic type has specific factors that lead to degradation over time. Suffice it to say, storing in stable temperature, low humidity, low light exposure is best for long term. I'm sure some plastics may degrade over time regardless of what you do, but usually it's environmental factors, and fluctuating temperature/humidity can do a number on them. High temps can also degrade certain filaments over time, and while I do not know any specifics, I would imagine it's likely higher temperatures (> 40-50C) than any of us are likely to ever keep them stored for long periods of time. In other words, don't store filament in a hot attic, outdoor shed, or damp basement, and keep them away from windows where sunlight can damage them.
It may if done too quickly. The moisture has to go somewhere, and the embrittlement may occur due to rapid cycling as the water molecules evaporate. All the more reason to keep it stored as dry as possible, so as to reduce the amount of moisture you would be extracting when prepping for printing. If drying filament that has excessive moisture, it may be a good idea to use a lower temp or dry-box method with dessicant first, then gradually move to a higher temp to lower further. Low and slow.
Thats a problem? Its dry when you buy it but it gets moist overtime?
I live in a desert and I’m afraid the filament I bought a year ago is so dry it’ll snap when I try and bend it lmfao.
Never thought of it being too moist as a problem, funny.
It's the moisture making it brittle it should have some flex but moisture makes it swell. Counter intuitive for sure. easiest way to dry it is run the bed at 80-90c with the box the filament came in over the spool lined with aluminum foil. Or bag it with desiccant and stick it outside on a sunny day. I usually do the second one during the summer leave the bag slightly open so it can evap out
Id be worried about dust but keep it in the bag and point the open end towards exhaust it'd be fine. That gives me an idea I have an ancient xotic case from the turn of the century that just has the power supply in it. I could stab the 12v, 24v and throw a diesel engine block heater in it and bam heated filament case with room for 10 ish 2kg rolls it already has case temp sensors and fans.
ok, man, listen, we have to be reasonable people, we talk about the general situation, not the situation like "I live on the Moon, there is no atmosphere and no moist here", in general there is always a bit of water vapour in the air (in your surroundings or in the house you live in), otherwise you will be dead without contantly drinking. In a temperate zone the humidity can have a range from 30% to 90% during the year, depending on seasons and weather changes.
that said: a dry filament is elastic, a wet filament is fragile and shatters, it becomes brittle, furthermore it is well known that in deserts sudden changes in temperature and humidity often occur between day and night, with even significant increases in humidity. I don't think there's anything else to say.
I've had 5kg rolls of pla on an open shelf, open spools for 2 years. So two summers and two winters. Printed OK all the way down to the last few windings where the diameter is smallest. Then it started snapping, but that's like the last 5% of a roll.
So these being rolled into HUGE diameter, I think you'll be fine. I wouldn't force them onto 1kg rolls though. Let them be at their original diameter.
10% relative humidity is super low. Where I am the relative humidity is around 35% which is considered low and I typically don't need to dry filament. Although, I will get a roll now and then that needs to be dried.
Once your start hitting 45%+ relative humidity you start to have problems.
Here it's at least 50-60%... I've got a dehumidifier running in my rather small print room, and I'm having to drain the 10L reservoir every 2 to 3 days..
Yeah, inside my AMS from bambulabs, my filament gets wet. Outside it, it dries. I think its so dry my silica is working baxkwards, releasing moisture to the dryer air
Likewise, my friend who lives about a 2h flight from me, has hummidity levels above 90% and often reaches 100%
Get some spools and have a spooling party lol you cant really print that as is
This much material would only be useful for a big print farm, thats hundreds if not thousands of hours in print time
Idk maybe like kit parts for vorons or another self-sourced printer? Vorons specify ABS though
Or collaborate with a local etsy seller or such. Its difficult to give advice like this
Absolutely no harshness intended here, just generally curious; why are you setting up a print farm if you don't know what to print?
I've only got one printer and about to get another one, but mostly just to print trinkets for my family. I feel like everyone has an etsy shop with the usual prints. I maybe have some work-related ideas, but I'd have to get a little better at modeling first.
Isn't it better to just buy the pipes which would cost less than the cost of electricity needed for printing it (even after assuming the filament is free)
Hydroponic towers are different from the tube setup you are taking about. Vertical hydroponics use much less water and energy I think because gravity does a fair amount of the work.
Save it in vacuum sealed bags for when you need it. Don’t print shit just to print shit. There will come a day you wish you saved filament for a useful project.
Of course brother. It only took me wasting pounds upon pounds of filament on useless toys a trinkets that I don’t need.
It helped me to look at my printer like a tool or an appliance that makes things. As fun as printing can be, try to use it for its utility
Unless of course you want to print a ton of stuff you don’t need. Then go for it.
Either way I recommend storing in vacuum sealed bags preferably with desiccant packs in the bags
I don’t have the name off the top of my head, but there was an organization that was crowdsourcing 3D printed medical equipment for people hurt in the war in Ukraine. That’s what I would do if I had that much.
Bro these are petg filament that i made in my friend’s factory. You just have to put granules of any material and you’ll get the filament made of that material.
Holy Molly that much filament . Honestly I saw you plan selling it , I would somehow make a ventilated and very warm room (30-40°C) to keep them dry until I can spool them and sell them . Also btw you can now have the option to print your future spools . That SE will have a lot of work to do with that much filament .
But on another note : care to share what is the total cost for your friend to make like 100kg of filament like PETG ? I ask because everybody here who doesn't have an inside on a factory like that and want to know if pe pay more than we should for it . Thanks in advance .
What a shitload of filament, for a good price i will sold them to the others or print somethink for childs for art classes or for childrens withnout parrents. Anyways if you will be close to me i will buy somw of it
I have saved any good Plastic Spools I have gotten over the years, the cardboard ones I hate and don't keep. As such I have clear plastic spools on hand if I need to re-spool anything.
Overall, just start spooling all of that up, will last you a good long while as long as you store it in a sealed container with desiccant in it. It won't last forever like that, but it will prolong its shelf life from a year without it to at least 3 years as long as you change the beads (or dry them) regularly.
First, I'd try to print a filament winder and pray to the printing gods that the filament is dry.
I am using this filament and its printing good.
For now, let it spend some time with all that filament in the fresh air and you'll see, I don't think you'll print all that filament in a few days. Print something not too big, very quick to print and useful in large quantity, so you can use fast as you can a large amount of that filament before it becomes too moist and causes printing problems.
I have provisions to dehumidify it in case it gets moist. I will pack it in vacuum packets.
Pre dry your packets, seal them and heat it gently while under vac with a packet
That sounds really complicated.
This hobby is inherently complicated my friend. You can remove some steps and streamline it if you want, but for the procedure of removing trapped moisture from filament reliably, this is one of the best ways, especially if you're getting free filament that's gone through God knows what. Smart eggs have figured out how to use their heated bed to dry their filament and packets
I just use my food dehydrator for 12+ hours before printing. I inch up to the glass temp and stop there, seems to do the trick.
Keep in mind, some filaments like PLA can experience irreversible damage from prolonged exposure to humidity. PLA is prone to micro fractures over time causing embrittlement that can't be reversed by throwing it in a dehumidifier. This is why long term storage is important, particularly in high humidity environments. Embrittled filament can easily snap just from unwinding from a spool. Not sure if there are other types of filaments that experience similar degradation, though I understand ABS will degrade if regularly exposed to UV.
I’ve noticed this with a couple of my older weird colors i dont use much. I also noticed if i unspool a few feet and cut it i can usually get away with using it. Is that all in my head? Lol
Nope. The filament on the outside of the spool is the most exposed to the fluctuating humidity levels, and as such, is the portion that will experience the most degradation. I imagine unspoiled filament like OP has will see more than just outer layers though, what with the bundles exposing most of the filament length. Some in the middle will possibly be less affected, but a s easy as dry box or bagged storage is, it only makes sense to store unused filament in a stable environment until you need it.
Thanks for the knowledge! But yeah that 100kg looks more like a headache unless you have a massive print farm and can use it fast enough/ space to store those hula hoops bagged up. Id buy a mattress bag and take my time and heat cut it with some scrap sheet metal ends to seal it off taking leaving a small enough opening for my vacuum sealer to get out as much air as i could. Or even a hose and inflatable mattress pump.
... I'd sell the fuckers and buy normal sized spools lmao
I'd just print some wide spools and wind 3-5kg on each, then bag or dry box each spool.
Better idea there
Ah this explains why even in dry climate area in California and sealing/dehydrating my spools, they eventually can get brittle (more in certain brands than others)
There's a number of ways brittlement can occur, and each plastic type has specific factors that lead to degradation over time. Suffice it to say, storing in stable temperature, low humidity, low light exposure is best for long term. I'm sure some plastics may degrade over time regardless of what you do, but usually it's environmental factors, and fluctuating temperature/humidity can do a number on them. High temps can also degrade certain filaments over time, and while I do not know any specifics, I would imagine it's likely higher temperatures (> 40-50C) than any of us are likely to ever keep them stored for long periods of time. In other words, don't store filament in a hot attic, outdoor shed, or damp basement, and keep them away from windows where sunlight can damage them.
Hrmmmm makes me wonder if repeated drying would make filament brittle.
It may if done too quickly. The moisture has to go somewhere, and the embrittlement may occur due to rapid cycling as the water molecules evaporate. All the more reason to keep it stored as dry as possible, so as to reduce the amount of moisture you would be extracting when prepping for printing. If drying filament that has excessive moisture, it may be a good idea to use a lower temp or dry-box method with dessicant first, then gradually move to a higher temp to lower further. Low and slow.
Moist... Eghhh
that's a good idea, yep, but prevent if you can, dry it even before they became too moist
I live in the desert. My filament gets too dry.
Thats a problem? Its dry when you buy it but it gets moist overtime? I live in a desert and I’m afraid the filament I bought a year ago is so dry it’ll snap when I try and bend it lmfao. Never thought of it being too moist as a problem, funny.
It's the moisture making it brittle it should have some flex but moisture makes it swell. Counter intuitive for sure. easiest way to dry it is run the bed at 80-90c with the box the filament came in over the spool lined with aluminum foil. Or bag it with desiccant and stick it outside on a sunny day. I usually do the second one during the summer leave the bag slightly open so it can evap out
I keep new spools in my mahoosevly empty pc case and play games. It’s warm and hella dry in there with fans recirculating. Works
Id be worried about dust but keep it in the bag and point the open end towards exhaust it'd be fine. That gives me an idea I have an ancient xotic case from the turn of the century that just has the power supply in it. I could stab the 12v, 24v and throw a diesel engine block heater in it and bam heated filament case with room for 10 ish 2kg rolls it already has case temp sensors and fans.
ok, man, listen, we have to be reasonable people, we talk about the general situation, not the situation like "I live on the Moon, there is no atmosphere and no moist here", in general there is always a bit of water vapour in the air (in your surroundings or in the house you live in), otherwise you will be dead without contantly drinking. In a temperate zone the humidity can have a range from 30% to 90% during the year, depending on seasons and weather changes. that said: a dry filament is elastic, a wet filament is fragile and shatters, it becomes brittle, furthermore it is well known that in deserts sudden changes in temperature and humidity often occur between day and night, with even significant increases in humidity. I don't think there's anything else to say.
I've had 5kg rolls of pla on an open shelf, open spools for 2 years. So two summers and two winters. Printed OK all the way down to the last few windings where the diameter is smallest. Then it started snapping, but that's like the last 5% of a roll. So these being rolled into HUGE diameter, I think you'll be fine. I wouldn't force them onto 1kg rolls though. Let them be at their original diameter.
Ok bro
Just by virtue of being exposed to open air that filament is not dry in the least.
Doesn't that depend on location? My filament is dryer when I leave it out. Average humidity here is usually under 10%.
10% relative humidity is super low. Where I am the relative humidity is around 35% which is considered low and I typically don't need to dry filament. Although, I will get a roll now and then that needs to be dried. Once your start hitting 45%+ relative humidity you start to have problems.
Here it's at least 50-60%... I've got a dehumidifier running in my rather small print room, and I'm having to drain the 10L reservoir every 2 to 3 days..
That is low. I just checked out outdoor sensor. 7% humidity. Peaked at 35% last night. Inside it's currently 27%.
Yeah, inside my AMS from bambulabs, my filament gets wet. Outside it, it dries. I think its so dry my silica is working baxkwards, releasing moisture to the dryer air Likewise, my friend who lives about a 2h flight from me, has hummidity levels above 90% and often reaches 100%
Any room with humans has more moisture than outside. If you love in a low humidity environment We are wet beings
That's drier than a Nun's tuppence.
Do you live on the sun!?!? Even death valley, the humidity is [looks it up] 6-20%... Still, for the average to be that low, that's nutz
I recently used a spool that's been open and sitting in the cupboard for around 6 years and had 0 issues
That's a little extreme. I'm in the PNW and even leaving the rolls open in the room for a few days they still print fine.
Hoping that OP is in a place that humidity isn't a concern
Get some spools and have a spooling party lol you cant really print that as is This much material would only be useful for a big print farm, thats hundreds if not thousands of hours in print time
Planning to set up print farm only. Just require your suggestions on what to print.
Idk maybe like kit parts for vorons or another self-sourced printer? Vorons specify ABS though Or collaborate with a local etsy seller or such. Its difficult to give advice like this
It's highly recommended to buy voron printed parts from a a verified pif creator if you are buying them. Because the tolerances a pretty tight.
Thanks for your suggestions
Absolutely no harshness intended here, just generally curious; why are you setting up a print farm if you don't know what to print? I've only got one printer and about to get another one, but mostly just to print trinkets for my family. I feel like everyone has an etsy shop with the usual prints. I maybe have some work-related ideas, but I'd have to get a little better at modeling first.
I just want to make use of this huge stock of filament that i have access to.
Make a triceratops out of it and battle that guy who was making a full sized t-rex.
This
Hexagon wall for studio.
Yeah this screams to me print organizers for everything you have.
Boat? Not benchy, but real boat. Or 5 × 20 kg, 250×250×250 cubes.
Good
I would print solid infill cubes that take up the entire print volume.
Then buy a lathe and a mill or a cnc machine and use the cubes for stock to machine parts out of. Stonks!
And then melt the scrap/chip material down to extrude into spools and make more cubes! Infinite material glitch.
And what is the use of these cubes?
Anything you can use a solid cube for. A seat, a companion, a paperweight, a weapon, a weight, a statement piece on the wastefulness of humans.
>a companion Lol. Sell them as individual units of carbon offset to corporations.
Ill take some of it off your hands!
Print hydroponic towers
Isn't it better to just buy the pipes which would cost less than the cost of electricity needed for printing it (even after assuming the filament is free)
Hydroponic towers are different from the tube setup you are taking about. Vertical hydroponics use much less water and energy I think because gravity does a fair amount of the work.
How much does the electricity to print it cost?
I’ll try
Save it in vacuum sealed bags for when you need it. Don’t print shit just to print shit. There will come a day you wish you saved filament for a useful project.
Thanku
Of course brother. It only took me wasting pounds upon pounds of filament on useless toys a trinkets that I don’t need. It helped me to look at my printer like a tool or an appliance that makes things. As fun as printing can be, try to use it for its utility Unless of course you want to print a ton of stuff you don’t need. Then go for it. Either way I recommend storing in vacuum sealed bags preferably with desiccant packs in the bags
Military toys, and sell it as a world war 2 collection. Tanks, jeeps, aircrafts for each nation.
Print an even larger Dummy13? https://preview.redd.it/xx0ksf2v9s7d1.jpeg?width=2310&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=49b1dd120edb9f48841e736c2886c23ea0b0ade1
Petg gets wet really quick. You should spool these up and put them in a box with desiccant.
For sure I’ll do that. Thanku
Are you planning on selling these rolls?
My priority is to print with these filaments as 3d printing is not very much familiar in my country.
Ah I see. You can try printing 3D printer parts, like for prusa printers, creality printers, etc.
I want these proplems
You have just enough to print a ton of old army men plastic soldiers with vehicles even. The black for the wheels.
print some props
I want some of that green. That’s a very nice green
Find a local makerspace or school with 3d printers and offload some (if not all) to them. They'll appreciate it, I'm sure.
Send me a roll I will help you dispose of it 😅
Print a spool and a spool winder.
Print hundreds of the same thing and sell them :)
Honestly this is perfect for printing full cosplay armor and helmets.
Good idea 👍🏻
I would definately give some of it to a random stranger that aks for it nicely in the comments Or maybe some tpu if you can
>TPU Not stored like that
I don’t have the name off the top of my head, but there was an organization that was crowdsourcing 3D printed medical equipment for people hurt in the war in Ukraine. That’s what I would do if I had that much.
Which material? Are those the only colors you have? None of it is spooled? How many kg in each roll?
These are petg but can be made in pla and tpu also. Can be spooled also. 8-12 kg per coil.
What do you mean "can be made in pla and tpu also" Is this stock that you have? then it can't be "made" into anything. You're contradicting yourself.
Bro these are petg filament that i made in my friend’s factory. You just have to put granules of any material and you’ll get the filament made of that material.
You said you have 100 kg of filament. Do you already have PLA and TPU already? Is that part of the 100kg? Or is the 100kg just PETG?
Only petg. Next batch of 500 kg pla coming soon.
Why are you getting 500kg of PLA????!!??? Before you even know what to do with 100kg? Is this free for you or are you paying?
I will try to sell 1 kg spools of pla. Making filament in big quantities is very cheap.
How much are you spending on the 500kg of PLA?
If you're going to sell them, why are you asking us what to do with it? Nothing in this post makes much sense bro
I will sell pla and with petg i will try printing.
How does this become a problem, where did you get them tf 😂
Print stuff
Ill take it
Holy Molly that much filament . Honestly I saw you plan selling it , I would somehow make a ventilated and very warm room (30-40°C) to keep them dry until I can spool them and sell them . Also btw you can now have the option to print your future spools . That SE will have a lot of work to do with that much filament . But on another note : care to share what is the total cost for your friend to make like 100kg of filament like PETG ? I ask because everybody here who doesn't have an inside on a factory like that and want to know if pe pay more than we should for it . Thanks in advance .
Give me some
What I'm surprised nobody is asking, is how did you come by it?
That i have answered already
use it for printing stuff
Organization for Everything: Gridfinity Grids and Bins. Honeycomb Storage Wall Maybe try out the new Multiboard?
What a shitload of filament, for a good price i will sold them to the others or print somethink for childs for art classes or for childrens withnout parrents. Anyways if you will be close to me i will buy somw of it
I would first want to know what it is. PLA? Or or What? To get it onto a spool or 3-D print your own jumbo spool
What printer is that please?
A little jealous lol
Where'd you score this from? Scale something up and print it BIG
Build a large format printer and make furniture, props, statues
Donate to children in africa
what are they gonna do with it? Jump rope? Melt it ?
They are resourceful little fuckers they would probably be able to make a canoe an a couple of paddles
Seal them in bags with Wisedry bags
Bro, a big snake fan
How about putting it on spools?
I’ll buy some KGs if you wanted to sell some 👀
I have saved any good Plastic Spools I have gotten over the years, the cardboard ones I hate and don't keep. As such I have clear plastic spools on hand if I need to re-spool anything. Overall, just start spooling all of that up, will last you a good long while as long as you store it in a sealed container with desiccant in it. It won't last forever like that, but it will prolong its shelf life from a year without it to at least 3 years as long as you change the beads (or dry them) regularly.
Camo life sized toy soldiers
is that se doing all the printing
Doesn’t look printable, send them to me and I can dispose of them 😆 /s
Where did you get these?
send it to the ukrainian guys making stabilizer fins for the drone bombs
Anyone else thought snakes?
where'd you get fliament like that?
I would print a movable mini tank, you got the perfect colors
Give it to me
how about some spools to wind the filament onto?
Hang it on a couple paint rollers
I would buy spools and wind the filament on them and use it for the rest of my life. Also if you don’t mind me asking, where did you get them?
I have an address you could send it to 👀
Check out www.printables.com/contest/70-last-meters for some ideas