Not your typical 3mm vs 1.75 question

[tsteever]

I have read a ton of debate on this subject on what is better. I am still on the fence.

My question is in regards to the filament as is is wrapped on the spool. Towards the end off a spool, my 3mm filament is almost impossible to use. It is tightly formed to the spool that it puts a lot of strain on the itself and will pull the spool out of my holder without actually unrolling.

I am using a bench spool holder and the filament rolls on bearings. I also have a bearing filament guide on the top of the printer where the old spool holder went.

Does 1.75 filment get this stiff towards the end of the roll?

[ZorAxe]

What make of filament are you using?

[tsteever]

Makerfarm mostly. I have some Esun that doesn't seem as bad. While i don't think there would be any significant printing quality improvement, if I didn't have to worry about the last bits of filament going to waste I would make the switch over time.

[lakester]

In my limited experience:

3mm PLA: By the time I get to the end of a spool w/ PLA, the filament has become somewhat hardened and brittle, causing problems towards the end of the spool. This is function of filament "freshness" and the shaping forces imposed by the spool.

3mm ABS: While there does seem to be some additional curvature imposed towards the end of a spool, I'm encountering no embrittlement or "freshness" problem, thus, I don't really have any spool related problems w/ ABS.

I have no experience w/ 1.75mm, but I can imagine that the 3mm vs 1.75mm issue is affected by the properties of the material.

[CoffeeCup]

Anybody tried Fry's Electronic's filaments?

[supertrogdor]

I use the 3mm ABS shaxon filament from frys exclusively(just because it's right down the street from me). I have never had any problems with the end of the spool. Just some discoloration.

[sniffle]

1.75 forms to the spool. Ut rolls off without issue... I have 4 printers all run ing 1.75 and i can pri t to the last mm on every spool without issue.