NiyaShy

Definitely better than the usual full plastic spool, but IMHO a step back from “true” masterspool refills. I’ve already printed my MS spools, switching in a new refill is easy enough, and I never bother to store an already opened refill without a spool since I store all of my filament in a drybox anyway.

Getting most of my filament from DasFilament because they are a local (German) company and offer masterspool refills. They “only” sell PLA, PETG and TPU, but so far I haven’t messed with other types yet, so that’s OK.

That’s a bit hot… All PETG I’ve come across so far printed OK at 230.

Welcome to the hobby then 😊 Hope you already have a drybox or other airtight storage, ABS and PETG don’t like being stored “outside” once they’re out of the sealed bag.

Hm, interesting that the board has a solder point for an ethernet jack, but I see none of the usual “support” components near it that are typically also required (a PHY and/or network chip). Could be that that’s supposed to be run in software on the MCU, but that would require that the firmware supports/includes it.

A pretty decent and cheap choice for containers are Ikea Samla boxes. You “just” need some weatherstrip from the hardware store to create a decent seal on the lid. Oh, and don’t bother with getting Ikeas lid clips, they’re crap compared to the printable “ultimate Samla clip”.

I have the 45l Samla box, it has space for about 10 spools of filament. Printed some infill grid as a “spacer” and just dumped 1kg of desiccant in, constantly keeps the RH below 20% and only has to be recharged 1-2 times/year.

No neutral packaging? Almost looks like they want to get their printers snatched from porches…
Anyway, congrats on your new workhorse ^^

With your budget, the typical “entry point” into the hobby would most likely be any machine from the Chinese brands like Anycubic, Creality, Sovol etc. Those machines work OK, but it’s very likely that you’ll find some quirks that annoy you which leads to tinkering and printing (or buying) replacement parts and upgrades. But it also helps to further understand how the printer works, which can help down the line.

“Tinker-free” printers that just work and will do so for many 100 hours (like the printers by Prusa) are more expensive upfront but don’t require constant “babysitting”.

Regarding software, there’s a plethora of programs that can be used. To name a few, we have the open source group (OpenSCAD, FreeCAD), the ‘free’ group (Fusion 360, SolidEdge), the web-based group (TinkerCAD, OnShape) and many more. Try them out and pick whichever suit you.

Uh, that would be deceiving marketing, a 1kg spool should contain 1kg of filament…
But hey, maybe my view on this is a bit warped because I only buy filament from reputable brands (and usually from their own store) and not from marketplaces like “big A” where hundreds of sellers battle to be the cheapest.

If companies that still used plastic spools are starting to switch to cardboard, I think that’s a good thing. Not only is it easier to recycle, but probably also lighter (your typical 1kg filament spool weighs around 200-300g), so the bulk should save some fuel for transportation.

Though I personally prefer using no spool at all (during shipping) 😉 Wherever possible I buy Masterspool refills.