How Far does 1 KG of 3D Filament go?

I weighed a metre of 3mm ABS filament today. It weighed 7 grams.

There are 1000 grams in a kilogram, so 1000/7 = metres per kilogram = 142.8.

The cross-sectional area of 3mm ABS filament is: pi * 1.5^2 sq mm (or pi * .15^2) sq cm = 0.7068 sq cm

One kilogram of filament contains 142.8 metres of filament.

142.8 metres is 14280 cm

The volume of ABS in a kilogram spool is: 14280 * 0.7068 = 1009.39 cc

It costs me $50 per kilo spool of ABS filament, delivered. That's 5000 cents per spool.

My cost per cc of filament is 5000/1009.39 = 4.95 cents

My cost per metre is 5000/142.9 = 34.98 cents

That makes the price of printing a Wades Extruder $2.83. Given that the Australian dollar buys about $US0.95, does about US2.70 sound right for this part?

Since $10 per spool is delivery charge, I think I'd better look elsewhere for my filament.

Old Man Emu

I'm using a Rep2, with 1.75mm filament. That gives me something ridiculous like 330 metres or so (give or take, 1000ft). I'm yet to finish a roll - I have about 6. Being like Old Man Emu, I'm based in Australia, so my costs are a little bit pricier, however I usually use Bilby brand PLA which is $40/roll (more for tricky shit like glow, or timber). To put things in perspective, I've printed multitudes of ships from Eve Online in a multitude of colours, and still yet have to run out of anything. Including several test prints, and a few failed prints!

Much more basic than anybody is making it out to be. Plastic is fairly bulky per gram, 1 kilo = 2.2 pounds, a kilo will produce nearly 2.2 pounds worth of stuff. It takes a little bit more plastic than the finished part weighs, ~10%, purge, raft, if used, etc.. If they are small parts, probably more, since you would have more purges, than with a single large part. So 2.2 pounds would print approximately 2 pounds of s***, with a little bit of waste, remember the approximate. A kilo goes a LONG ways

We have several kilos, not as much as needed for the kinds of experiments we do, and we have not used a kilo. Then we only use it for research. Having many kinds, but a small amount of each kind would be best for our purposes.

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Originally Posted by Larry

Ok, so I see you can buy 3D Printer Filament for about $40 or so. My question is, how far does 1 KG go? Can anyone put it into words for me? Will 1 KG Filament last only a few small prints, or will it last dozens? What are your experiences? Like for instance how many grams are used to print something like an iPhone case, or something like a plastic bottle? Just trying to get my mind wrapped around what the costs will be when my printer comes. I see a ton of negative comments from bloggers and tech sites about the costs of printing. Has me a little worried that I may be getting into a hobby I can not afford.

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Unfortunately thats like asking how long is a piece of string. What you are printing, how much infill you use and how many print failure all affect how fast you go through a roll. If you are concerned about the price of plastic here is what I recommend. Buy good quality plastic, it will prevent wasted time and money on low quality and failed prints. You should also expect that it will take you about a roll or two before you really get a feel for the machine. If you are printing every day, expect to go through a roll a week. Chances are a roll will last you two to three weeks unless you find something you want to print regularly. I have found that after you get used to the machine and have made some good prints you end up printing less. This is because useful prints take some thought and consideration, otherwise you end up with a bunch of "stuff".

A quick side note, 3D printed objects can make great presents. I'm not even sure how much I have saved by using prints as gifts.

If you are printing small product (like small chess piece), you can print around 400 of them according to
http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2012/02...gle-1kg-spool/

Daniel Poon
BotFeeder Canada

I've been actively 3d printing stuff for a while now, and I just think in terms of volume, amounts of cubed centimeters. Density of ABS is a little over 1g/cm so 1kg gives you a little less than 1000, say 950, cm3's. For each part you print you should estimate the volume required, and while modeling try to minimize things like wall thickness and required support structures. If you print a small bottle with wall thickness 1.2 mm it would probably use up around (rough estimate) 50 cm3. Cutting down on wall thickness and properly hollowing things out will save you lots of material, and it helps you think more intelligently about the things you design as well.

Hi all I am new to the Forum. Good to be here. I don't know if this will help but I thought that I would chime in. The material that I manufacture is as follows:

1.75mm for a 2.2 pound (1kg) is 907 feet per spool.

We are a U.S. company, and we supply 2.5 pounds per spool. These spools have 1030 feet per spool.

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Originally Posted by Larry

...you can buy 3D Printer Filament for about $40 or so...

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- If that's a PLA cost your paying too much. I'm using RioRand filament at a cost of $25-$28 a 1kg spool.

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Originally Posted by Larry

...how many grams are used to print something like an iPhone case...

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PART: Basic IPhone 6 Case (Thingiverse Find)
FILAMENT NEEDED: 5867mm (@ 100% infill w/ 1.75mm PLA)
PART WEIGHT: 17.7787g ([1000g / 330m] * [5.867m] = 17.7787)
PARTS PER SPOOL: 56 ([330 Meters per spool] / [5.867m per part] = 56.25)

*Edit: RioRand also has Free Shipping when you buy 2 or more rolls

I am coming late to the game but found a website that was very helpful: http://www.toybuilderlabs.com/blogs/...ume-and-length. I took and calculated the volume of the filament in mm. then converted it to inches and divided the cost of the filament role by the volume to get the cost of 1 in^3. then I calculated the volume of the part to find the approximate cost of a solid print at a given volume. Obviously this can be done cheaper by using an infill vs. solid. I do have an excel worksheet I created but do not see how to attach it here.nbonds@madisonhighlandprep.org email and I will send it to you.

Anyway, I benefit from it a lot.