Open Standard for 3D Printing Filament Spools - Campaign

I've been noticing that this campaign for making an open standard for filament spools has been gaining some traction. Basically the idea is to have the entire 3D printing community come up with a standard size for filament spools. This would make so much stuff within the industry a lot easier. If you look at all the filament out there on the market, the spools (if it even comes on a spool) are all different sizes. The 'Mount Hole Diameter', the 'Inner Coil Diameter', and 'Outer Size Diameter' come in all different sizes. The campaign aims to create one standard for all filament manufacturers, and all 3D printers.

Check out some of the different sizes:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-46lDeu20o4...to_P_Small.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jewqqw0OqW...to_Z_Small.jpg

There are major problems, where it's impossible to find 2 filament brands that can be interchangable with one another. Do you guys think that we will ever reach a point where this changes? It would be so beneficial to the industry in my opinion. However, while filament makers, and people that use FDM 3D printers would love it, I don't know if the 3D printer manufacturers would. This prevents them from basically force feeding their own brand filament to the people that buy their printers.

It seems like the majority of people that own 3D printers support this idea, as do filament manufacturers. It's just about getting printer manufacturers on board. I think that will be a major accomplishment for this campaign, if we could get companies like 3D Sys and Makerbot on board.

Anyhow, please share your thoughts on this, and what you think we could do to help spread the word of this campaign!

I don't know if we really "need" an open standard for filament. Heck, if you look at 2D printers, there is not open standard for toner and ink cartridges. It may just be one of those things, where there are a ton of different filament options now, but in the future when competition eliminates all the smaller 3D printer manufacturers and filament manufacturers, there will be a lot less. I don't think there will be more than 5 3D printer manufacturers and more than a dozen filament manufacturers in 10 years from now. It's how industry works. There will be buyouts, mergers, etc, forcing the small companies out of business. Economies of scale will greatly reduce the prices of filament and printers, as the large companies like Makerbot / 3d systems mass produce, and create printers and filament at a fraction of the costs that the smaller companies can.

Wouldn't it be nice if a printer company offered inexpensive filament of every color on rolls that fit their inexpensive machine (with a DIY kit option)? With inexpensive hardware upgrades available? With service and training available at a local hackerspace?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by eveninggown

I don't think there will be more than 5 3D printer manufacturers and more than a dozen filament manufacturers in 10 years from now. It's how industry works.

---

That's how industry works now due to economies of scale and globalization. Aren't 3D printers supposed to be part of the next industrial revolution?

In the meantime, standardization makes a lot of sense because a bad spool can ruin a print.

I suspect we'll fall prey to this.

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/standards.png

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by WildZBill

Wouldn't it be nice if a printer company offered inexpensive filament of every color on rolls that fit their inexpensive machine (with a DIY kit option)? With inexpensive hardware upgrades available? With service and training available at a local hackerspace?

---

It would be nice, but that is not how companies make money unfortunately. These are corporations that are trying to make as much profit as possible. Making cheap filament and cheap hardware probably wouldn't be in their best interest.

It would definitely make our lives and filament maker's lives a lot easier, but I think this will be something that will be virtually impossible to coordinate. There will always be some big companies unwilling to cooperate, thus it will never fully take shape. Same reason why Apple won't ever run Android apps, and vice versa.

I think that one of the latest post from RichRap is a good point : we don't necessarily need to define a full compliance system but at least a few minimum parameters.
Say : min interior spool diameter for the rotation axis and min diameter for filament...

We at The 3D Printing Association are supporting The Campaign for a Universal Spool Standard, we hope to have an update in our next newsletter but are keen to get your views, we posted an update regarding the month long campaign HERE earlier today
The Campaign was initiated earlier this year by Richard Horne author of 3D Printing for Dummies and a well respected figure in the RepRap community.

If you get chance to take a look and comment it would be appreciated.

:)

Very interesting. I just don't see it happening. For the same reason that there is no open standard for 2D printer ink cartridges. It'll be a way for companies to make money, especially in the future.

To update you guys. Horne and company have released the first draft of this spool standard.
More info at http://3dprint.com/27126/3d-printing...spool-standard

http://3dprint.com/wp-content/upload...1-1024x576.jpg

To be fair I think credit should be Given to both Richard Horne and The 3D Printing Association which have driven this https://www.the3dprintingassociation...rd-is-released

I was going to post a link to the XKCD comic. Because that's what really happens. Heart's in the right place, but with so much investment in current spool types, I don't know if it's going to happen. I know Makerbot isn't going to give up their "filmreel". The next Solidoodle spool looks like a doublewide Taulman spool. 3D Systems has three different cartridge styles for their consumer & low end pro machines. But hey, if a reputable company takes it up, I'll give it consideration for my next purchase. There's a lot of factors that go into who I buy from though.

I always find it interesting when we do non-3d printed solutions for 3d printing?

I look at this as a hobbyist that will print spools for my garage made filament. The stacking and mirroring is impressive.

On 3d printing them I'd like,
-A bit of a radius to the inside corners to help with strength and delamination
-If these are 3d printed, I worry that the 'nubbins' used to hold it will break off. Perhaps have the shells wall down and then a 'clip' printed flat that then is used to lock the shells together. If the clip is printed flat and then rotated perpendicular for install, that would give it a lot of strength compared to just all horizontal layers. Maybe the steam injection molded ones are built this way and the 3d printed ones just have holes in place of the nubbins.
-Make it a system where the real commanality is the size and slope of the center section Then then the end plates could be sized to standard sizes and the middle section could also have flat extenders to make it wider.
-Some kind of scalloping on the smaller surface circle for better purchase by winding equipment. Rather than just friction between winders, have a bit of a profile for better engagement and spool winding. That is just a thing I see with my filawinder.

My views are influenced by my at home experience.

Why are there such diversity in spool dimensions? From Taulman to the large flat spools???

As a new printer manufacturer trying to come into the market, I am fully on board with a standard spool size (or sizes). It would be great to incorporate a spool holder in our printer that could hold any spool, but with some of the bizarre shapes and sizes out there, we can't do half of them.

Standardizing a set of spools such as a 500g, 1000g, 1500g, and 2000g would be very beneficial to the entire industry. I like how examples B, D, E, & K all have the same general diameter, they're just thicker or thinner to accommodate a different amount of filament. They seem to have pretty similar inner diameters as well.

Quote:

---

if you look at 2D printers, there is not open standard for toner and ink cartridges

---

But there is for the paper.