Bambu AMS and Protopasta 8 inch spools

Protopasta's 8 inch cardboard spool design has existed since 2015, providing a balance between waste and user experience. Having no spools sides, in our experience, does not give the highest quality user experience so we provide spools with sides (a previous blog on the subject).

Protopasta spool sides aren't overdesigned to use excessive material, and they work well with center supported rollers. Getting a reliable experience with edge rolling spool holders like the Bambu AMS can be less straight-forward.

You can remove the spool sides, but we don't recommend doing so. That said, if you want to replace the cardboard spool side, here is an example fit to our 500g spool core size: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5775543

If using the AMS, spool modification may not be required. You can leave the lid propped, resting on the tabs or you can add a lid spacer if you like. Here is one of several designs I found: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5528378

A closed lid does help maintain filament condition and hold it in place. If you want to completely close the lid, you need to cut a couple mm from our 8 inch spools. Here is a design to do so: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5489326

If you want to add a guard to avoid spool edge wear, we've seen many solutions. One is included in the above link. You'll want to size accordingly to fit whatever spool diameter you are working with.

Another option is our Protopasta 8 inch spool edge guard. The lid will still need to be open, but that's typically ok for PLA and HTPLA which we leave out and print for a good result without drying. This design relies on friction from an interference fit with the spool center opening.

What I like about this design is that no spool modification is required, it does not block the corrugation for filament holding when not printing, and has an alignment pin that limits rotation. If you try it out, please let us know if/how it works for you.

We have several Bambu Lab 3D printers with AMS systems to test and build our own understanding, but like anything, the user experience is varied. Some folks are fine using our spools without modification, while others aren't. Initial spool condition, AMS settings, spool weight, and material switches are variables impacting the experience.

We're still building experience, but are working for the best user experience when taking into consideration the new constraints that the Bambu AMS presents. As we learn more, we'll work to evolve our approach and keep you in the loop! Maybe there isn't a single fix that works for everyone, but hopefully sharing our experience and some possible solutions makes for a better experience!!!

Let us know what your experience is, how the above information serves you, and whether you have any suggestions to help improve the experience.

All our best,

Alex and the Protopasta Team