Mini Spool for Filament Samples  (up to 20 m)

A compact spool that holds up to 20 m of 1.75 mm filament. Perfect for 10–20 m samples — no more tangled coils once the bag is opened, and the filament feeds smoothly into a 3D pen or printer.

Why I designed it

When my daughter began creating 3D objects with a 3D pen, dozens of short samples soon turned into a spaghetti mess. Mini‑spools I found were poorly suited to PLA: most clamp the loose end in a straight hole, so the stiff PLA kept snapping. In my version I solved this by replacing the straight hole with a shallow, curved channel that follows the spool’s circumference, letting the filament tail lie naturally without kinking or breaking. I needed reliable retention, a size made for 10 m samples, and something that prints fast — so I modeled this spool in Fusion 360 and printed it on a Bambu Lab A1 mini.

The entire print fits on a single A1 Mini build plate.

Design highlights

| Capacity | up to 20 m of 1.75 mm PLA/PETG, or two 10 m samples |

| Glued shell | two halves align precisely and are fixed with a drop of super‑glue |

| Gentle tail lock | four tear‑drop slots grip PLA without stressing or breaking it |

| Lightweight | ~ 30 g in PLA |

| Fast print | < 1 h on a standard profile; both halves lie flat—no supports |

Recommended print settings

• Material: PLA (fast) or PETG (stronger)
• Nozzle: Ø 0.4 mm (0.6 mm also fine)
• Layer height: 0.20 mm
• Walls/perimeters: ≥ 3
• Infill: 15 %–20 % (Grid or Gyroid)
• Supports: none
• Speed: typical profile (e.g., 200 mm/s on a Bambu A1 mini)

Assembly & use

1. Print the two halves.
2. Align them and run a thin bead of super‑glue around the mating rim.
3. Press the halves together and hold for a few seconds until the bond sets.
4. After the glue cures, wind the filament by hand, leaving a ~5 cm tail.
5. Lock the tail in one of the tear‑drop slots.

License & feedback

Released under CC BY‑SA 4.0—feel free to remix and share as long as you credit the author and keep derivatives under the same license. I’m happy to hear your feedback and ideas for improvements!

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