I sent a message to Polymaker on this and busted their chops for claiming to be eco friendly when they don’t make refills.
Some people say yeah, but those a BL spools and I have a XXX printer. To which my thoughts on this are expressed in the comment below that I posted on this topic on youtube.
On the cardboard spools. eSun makes refills that work on Bambu spools with an adapter you can print. I just sent a message to Polymaker asking them why they don’t sell refills that would fit on Bambu spools when they claim to be an eco conscious company?
As far as companies claiming to be eco friendly by using biodegradable cardboard for the spools; that claim falls flat on it’s face if they don’t make refills. Which is more eco friendly, refills using minimal cardboard, or people, especially with print farms, filling their trash / dumpsters with used up cardboard spools?
Sunlu now has reusable spools, but they don’t have refills available yet. To me, any filament manufacturer that doesn’t sell printers, and that doesn’t make refills that can work on Bambu spools , or their own that will work with an AMS are just being stupid. People with other printer brands can buy, or even print, the Bambu reusable spools for refills.
The problem is that “spool-less” filament winding isn’t as easy and straightforward as winding filament directly on a spool, so those manufacturers likely haven’t developed a process for that (or haven’t invested into machine/addon to current winder to do that)
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I just got through designing and printing this out of TPU. It stretches enough that spool size won’t be an issue. It might solve the spools being too light with a bit of extra grip. I call it a spool sock. I will upload it after testing. The next one is printing now. I had to print it on my prusa, no AMS ready TPU. Needs to be cleaned up too.
The AMS TPU is more like a flexible plastic than a rubbery filament. So it may or may not stretch enough to fit over the edge of the spool to do so w/o damaging it.
When you’ve tested your “sock” 
, post a link to the file and I’ll give the TPU for AMS a try. As I only have eSun cardboard spools. What’s the diameter and thickness of the overture spool? I’ll compare it to the eSun.
And, if they are claiming to be “eco friendly”, shouldn’t they be working on going spool-less?. Like I said makes the eco friendly claim fall flat on it’s face otherwise.
Actually it stretches nicely and is extremely tough. It fits great even on slightly damaged spools. I revised it to be narrower as it didn’t fit well in the AMS, now it does. I am waiting for my hub to arrive before I start printing.
As long as the material holds up. I increased the sides to make sure it wouldn’t derail off the spool. Very happy with it so far.
The spool diameter is 200mm thickness is 3.5mm. I can easily include a different or modify the current diameter. I think I made it 196mm x 4mm. About 18mm less on the circumference I think. No issues with damaging the spool so far. Even holds it together if it is already compromised.
Yeah. It’s like trying to fill an invisible dump truck. I mean, if the dirt is clumpy enough you can kind of get it into the shape, but you can’t get it perfectly.
I think about that with the refills. When you’re winding directly onto a spool, it’s much easier to wind it tight within the space of the spool. If it’s a refill though, there can be any number of little things that throws that spacing off just a little, and just a little is just enough to cause issues.
The whole point of my custom made spool was to try and address that, but even within that, it’s not perfect. Like the outer edge tends to round over some still, so you are still prone to jams, depending on the wind.
I can see why refills haven’t caught on before, and why it took Bambu to get them to catch on. It’s only through brute force. By virtue of the wall garden they created, they made it feasible.
I think Polymaker understands a thing or two about consumers and what drives them. I’ve seen comments come from them about their products, and direction they take, that really indicate this. Their product line is a reflection of the demands of the consumers. I’ve seen how it has changed in response to that consumer demand. I think this is why we haven’t seen refills from them. While it’s a nice idea, I don’t think it bares out to be what consumers wanted. At least, not up until Bambu. I don’t think Polymaker is like some of these Chinese brands too, in that they aren’t just going to throw every random idea at the wall and see if it sticks.
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I’m quite sure polymaker are one of the companies that manufacture Bambu’s filament (look at the colors, compared to overture, which is a polymaker brand) so they must be able to wind onto cardboard cores.
eSun came in at 200mm, but only 2.5 mm for the thickness. Makes for an easy resize for me. Will be curious to see how the thinner walls stand up to this.
If I had a nickel for everyone that is SURE Bambu filament is made by company _ _ _ _ _ , I could probably pay for a steak dinner for me and my wife.
The most common candidates are
eSun
Sunlu
Polymaker
Overture
Flashforge
I can knock it down to 3mm and add that size to the upload if you need. Problem with cardboard is it warps easily from the vac packing. Has no tolerance for even small drops or mild abuse. It wobbles like an old wooden wagon wheel in the AMS.
Below is the response I got from Overture after I suggested they make refills, which would make perfect sense AND I would be jumping on if I were CEO of a filament company. You could be correct about them being a source and so the response.
Thank you for your feedback! We completely understand your concerns regarding the compatibility of our cardboard spools with Bambu Lab’s AMS. Your time is valuable, especially running a 3D printing business, and we want to make your experience with our products as smooth as possible.
While we currently do not offer plastic spools or refills compatible with Bambu spools, we have updated the rolling edge into the spools. Besides this, we do have a spool adapter available for the AMS that may help alleviate the need to re-spool your filaments. This adapter can provide a more convenient solution for your printing needs. Click here to get the spool adapter.
We appreciate your feedback and will certainly consider your suggestion regarding refills in the future. If you’re have any further questions, please feel free to reach out.
I want to add that I purchased a second AMS and it came with 4 refill spools.
Very aware of that. I printed the supports for the cardboard spools I have to keep them from warping when vacuum sealed.
As for resizing for eSun, I can do that for me. I’ll let you know if I see warping with the thinner walls. If not, I can send you the file to post with your original one. I’m not that interested in posting on MakerWorld yet.
I added the resized file already.
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Will print today and see how it goes with he thinner walls. (Have to dry it first though)
