One of the biggest problems with 3D printing is the waste it produces. Not just the poop, but calibrations, test/failed prints and even the packaging that filament is shipped in.

This simple hook is designed to make the process of collecting and sorting the wasted filament by colour and material type to make it easier to reuse or recycle.

They achieve this in 3 ways:

1) REDUCE: They can be printed alongside a multi-colour print and used as a purge item. This reduces the amount of poop produced by the main model and turns otherwise wasted filament into a useful object.

2) REUSE: They are designed to work with the clear plastic vacuum sealed bags that filament is shipped in. If you have a roll of filament then you already have these bags - no need to purchase or print some kind of container to store the waste. They also provide a way to reuse the filament swatches you may have.

3) RECYCLE: With a set of hooks you can easily sort the waste by each colour making the waste material more useful than just having all colours mixed together. Similarly, if you plan to recycle your filament to turn into new filament (e.g rPLA) then it is important to also separate by material type (PLA, PETG etc).

SIZING

Measure the thickness of the table or desk they will be used with and pick the appropriate sized profile. Depending on the material used the fins do have a slight flex so you may be able to fit 0.5 - 1mm either way of the listed size. If your required size is not listed then leave a comment and I will upload it. The swatches should fit snuggly in place, but I did find there is a lot of variability in the official Bambu Lab swatch samples even of the same material type so you may find some are a tighter fit than others.

PRINTING

Print ideally as a purge item alongside multi-colour items. You can adjust infill % to use up more purge material as required, but 15% is plenty strong enough - I tested by adding a 2 kg weight and the hook barely moved. Over time PLA may warp, but it's unlikely you'd even fit anywhere near 2kg of waste in one bag.

My profiles ensure the fins print as an unbroken line for maximum strength, if you are slicing yourself then I recommend starting with these settings:

• Initial layer width: 0.42mm
• Detect thin walls: off
• Wall generator: classic
• Infill: 15% gyroid

Credits for other models in images:

Waste bin model: https://makerworld.com/en/models/24308?from=search#profileId-29940

A1 Mini model: https://makerworld.com/en/models/228012?from=search#profileId-245574

Happy poop spinner: https://makerworld.com/en/models/414995#profileId-317094