The Circular Workshop: How to Turn Empty Filament Spools into Fully Modular Storage Towers
In 3D printing, enthusiasts, often face a recurring dilemma: what to do with the growing mountain of empty filament spools. These circular plastic shells, while essential for packaging the raw material, frequently end up being discarded. In their video, "Stop Throwing Away Empty Spools – Do THIS Instead!," the team at Spectrum Filaments, fresh off the Form Next 2025 exhibition, presents a definitive and practical solution that embodies the maker spirit of reuse and innovation: converting these waste products into custom, modular storage drawers.
The project is built on the philosophy of turning waste into utility, specifically targeting the standard transparent spools used by Spectrum Filaments. The creator, Alessio, highlights the wasted potential of these spools, noting that they already possess the structure and features—like the small holes used to hook the filament—that can be leveraged for a functional product.
The Journey from Idea to Functional Design
While the concept of repurposing spools into drawers isn't entirely new to the wider maker community, the team’s goal was to engineer a set of parts perfectly tailored to the dimensions and specifications of their own brand’s spools. This required significant time and rigorous effort in design and iteration.
The designer detailed the demanding process of "a lot of prototyping and testing" necessary to perfect the fit and function. Notably, a previous iteration of the base featured a thread mechanism, which was eventually discarded because it proved impractical, prone to breaking, and less user-friendly than the final, simple snap-in design. This commitment to a robust and practical final product is evident in the clever features engineered into the drawer components.
Key Features of the Modular Drawer Design
The design required extensive prototyping to ensure functionality, resulting in several clever mechanical features that make the system robust and practical:
- Secure Snapping Mechanism: The drawers feature a small pin that allows them to securely snap into the spool's existing holes.. This design choice not only holds the drawer in place but also prevents it from being inserted incorrectly. The parts are labeled (A, B, C, D) to clearly indicate the correct fit and position.
- Controlled Opening: The drawers are designed to open freely but only to a certain extent. This limit ensures that when the spool is resting on a table, the drawer will not completely fall out. However, they can still be easily removed if opened fully.
- Angled Stability: A subtle but important detail is the slight angle in the drawer design—taller on one side—which creates friction at the top of the spool when the drawer is inserted. This prevents the drawers from accidentally sliding open or popping out if the entire spool is rotated or moved.
- Fully Modular Stacking: The project is described as "totally fully modular". Users can stack as many spools as they like using a system of bases, adapters, and a final cap. The base secures the bottom spool to the table or surface, and adapters allow subsequent spools to lock onto the one beneath it, creating a stable, multi-story tower of drawers.
Customization and Stacking Power
The project truly shines in its fully modular nature, allowing users to build organizational towers of any desired height. To achieve this stability, the system relies on three primary components:
- The Base: This piece secures the very bottom spool to a flat surface.
- The Adapters: These are crucial connectors that fit snugly atop one spool and allow the next empty spool to be placed directly on top. The creator notes that without the adapters, the spools would merely wobble on top of one another.
- The Cap (or Top Lid): This piece is used to neatly close and stabilize the entire tower, ensuring the top spool is firmly secured.
By using this base-adapter-cap structure, users can stack spools to create organized, multi-story storage units. For aesthetic purposes, the team recommends using different colored filaments, demonstrating a slick transition from white to light gray, dark gray, and black across the four-story tower.
The entire project demonstrated in the video was printed using Spectrum Filaments' PLA matte line, specifically in a sleek black, white, and gray gradient. The creator expresses a strong preference for this filament, praising its "slick matte finish" and "absolutely insane" strength, noting that it performs exceptionally well even when compared to materials like PCCF and PTG.
For makers looking to replicate this useful project, the STL files for all the components—the drawers, adapters, base, and cap—are made available for download in the video description, along with links to the PLA mat filament used in the build.
Practical Applications and Featured Filament
The repurposed spools can be used to store a wide range of items crucial for 3D printing and general crafting. Examples shown include:
Deburring tools and magnifying glasses
Pens, pencils, and cutters
Small accessories like tweezers
Spare nozzles, screws, nuts, and washers
Conclusion
The modular spool drawer project presented by Spectrum Filaments stands as an exemplary demonstration of ingenuity and practical resourcefulness within the 3D printing community. By meticulously engineering a set of 3D-printable components—drawers, bases, adapters, and caps—the team has transformed what was once inevitable plastic waste into a highly functional, customizable, and stackable storage solution.
Ultimately, this project is a robust, tangible answer to the problem of filament spool waste, proving that with clever design and a 3D printer, true sustainability and organization can be achieved right on the maker's workbench.