Filament to 3D printing is like paint to a painter – essential. Therefore, it’s vital to properly organize your material. There’s a multitude of filament storage options to keep your filament dry and spool holders to hold your filament while printing. However, in this article, we are going to focus on filament organization options.
Apart from being great at organizing filament, storage racks increase accessibility, aesthetics, and help create a tidier workspace. You can also arrange the filament according to material, color, use, and other factors that suit your preferences. This will make it easy for you to locate the perfect filament for your prints and start printing!
Our list includes 3D printable, DIY, and purchasable solutions to offer the most filament organization options as possible. So, let’s take a look at the best filament storage racks out there!
Printable
3D printed storage racks utilize rods, pipes, and even household items like broomsticks to hold multiple spools of filament. These racks are highly customizable, and you can print them using colorful filament for extra style points.
Simple & Cheap
If you don’t like the idea of using a lot of filament to create organizers that are supposed to save filament, this design is for you. It’s essentially a set of connectors that hold together two dowels, creating a rack to store your spools.
The model is easy, quick, and cheap to print. After you’ve printed the parts (with low infill), connect the two ends with wooden dowels (broomsticks work great), and place the assembly on a shelf. This simple construction will allow you to shelve filament without worrying about it rolling off. That’s pretty good for about $2 worth of materials!
- Who designed it? Panzerwalze
- How printable/popular is it? Thingiverse reports over 820 downloads and 43 likes. There’s also a remix.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Wall-Mounted
Dedicating an entire shelf to filament organization isn’t always the most efficient idea. However, this filament organization solution is a simple, elegant, and space-preserving option that you can easily print and assemble. All you need are a few 3D printed brackets, 1″ x 2″ square dowels, 3/4″ dowel rods, and voilà!
The parts can be glued, screwed, or glued and screwed together. The entire piece is then mounts to the wall for convenient filament storage.
Vertical
Space conservation is an important criterion for any organizational system. This filament rack is vertically oriented, so it takes up little floor space and allows for easy spool access.
To assemble it, you’ll need the 3D printed parts, 15-mm piping, M4 socket screws, and some wood screws. If you want to store more filament spools, just replace the pipe with a longer one or install another vertical rack.
- Who designed it? TheKre8Group
- How printable/popular is it? This unique filament storage rack has over 1,600 downloads and close to a hundred likes.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Hangers
If you thought that hangers were just for clothes, think again. This unique design allows you to organize your filament on a single crossbar without worrying about the spool unwinding.
This spool storage solution was designed specifically for eSun filament. However, it should work with other brands’ standard spool sizes. You can hang these on broomsticks, rods, or wire mesh racks. Depending on the available space, you can store as many filaments as you want.
The designer advises printing the hangers using 0.2-mm layer height and at least 15% infill, but it wouldn’t hurt to increase this percentage to improve durability.
- Who designed it? 3DStartups
- How printable/popular is it? This hanger has over 31,500 downloads with a total of 15 makes and 12 remixes.
- Where to find it? Thingiverse
Shelf System
This customizable spool shelf system is designed to attach to a wall and hold a large number of spools. Due to its design, you can install it in any upright orientation and stack many shelves together.
While assembling the shelf, it’s possible to use either an 18-mm or 20-mm diameter rod. If you decide to use an 18-mm rod, you’ll need to 3D print an adapter.
While there are no suggested print settings, these shelves have a good number of makes from the community, which proves that you can build this system without any challenges and put your filament collection on display.
- Who designed it? Olo Deepdelver
- How printable/popular is it? With almost 120 likes, 500 downloads, and 8 makes, this shelf system is quite popular.
- Where to find it? Printables
Infinity Holder
This compact and modular filament holder lets you keep and add as many spools as you want. Since there are rollers on bearings, you can feed your filament, swap out spools, or feed multiple filaments to your printer. The best way to achieve this is to arrange spools beside each other.
The designer recommends printing this holder at 0.2-mm layer height and 20% infill. For assembly, you’ll need rollers and bearings.
- Who designed it? Holck
- How printable/popular is it? With over 2,300 views, 3 makes, and 140 downloads, this rack has plenty of fans.
- Where to find it? Printables
DIY
DIY spool holders are all about getting creative and building your own rack. So, let your imagination run wild with fun projects like a unique filament cabinet and laser-cut feet.
Cabinet
Bob from I Like To Make Stuff embraced the idea, “If it ain’t broke, hurry up and make it better!” with this filament organizer cabinet. Not only is it a neat and attractive solution, but it also provides climate control that will keep your filament in top-notch condition.
The entire shelf can be constructed with a single sheet of plywood. A complete list of supplies and a build video are available for free. The plans are yours at an extremely reasonable price of $5.
Additionally, like the designer, you can install a magnetic tool rack and organizer beneath the cabinet, making it convenient to grab instruments and tools when needed.
- Approximate cost: $7 (digital plans), additional material cost
- Complexity: Medium-hard
- Project page: YouTube, I Like To Make Stuff
Laser-Cut
If you have a laser cutter and a messy collection of filament spools, this next filament rack idea is for you. This simple project consists of laser-cut feet connected with threaded rods and appropriately sized nuts. A single level of this rack can hold up to 24 spools. If you want to store additional spools, just add another rack on top.
Once assembly is complete, you can set your new rack on any shelf, table, or floor. All the plans are free, so the only expense for this project is the cost of materials.
- Approximate cost: Material cost
- Complexity: Easy
- Project page: Maniacal Labs
Purchasable
You can avoid the hassle of printing or building a rack yourself by purchasing any of the filament holders listed below. Some simple assembly is all it takes to give your filament collection a new home.
RepRack
This pick is a versatile multi-spool storage that’s entirely open-source. It’s available in two versions: a wall-mounted starter kit and a desktop starter kit.
The best part about either of these kits is that you have the option to purchase or print them. To clarify the difference between the two, the wall-mounted starter kit can be up to 10 feet long, holding nearly 50 spools. On the other hand, the compact desktop kit can fit on any tabletop. It comes with a few non-skid feet to stay stable and maintain a good grip on surfaces.
- Approximate cost: $35-$45
- Complexity: Easy
- Buy: Repkord
Filament Stand
What you see is what you get with this simple filament stand: It suspends up to six filament spools in the air. Keeping this stand near your 3D printer is a convenient way to feed your printing material without taking the spool out of the stand.
Along with the stand, you’ll receive two legs and an aluminum extrusion. Since the legs are printed using ABS, you can easily print them yourself.
However, purchasing the entire stand has its benefits. You’ll also receive rubber anti-slip feet attached to the legs so that if any filament gets tugged or you nudge the stand, it won’t fall over or move.
- Approximate cost: $40
- Complexity: Easy
- Buy: IT-Works
Metal Shelf
Wire shelves are not extraordinary, but they are wonderful for filament storage. Whether you prefer to stack or rack your spools, this shelf has a sturdy base frame that will stand up to constant use for years.
This particular shelf is 14 inches deep and 36 inches long, which should provide more than enough room for your extensive filament collection. You can even stack the spools and boxes on a single shelf level, optimizing the available storage space. But that’s not all: This shelf is also a great place to store other tools and accessories.
- Approximate cost: $40
- Complexity: Easy
- Buy: Amazon
IKEA Rack
If you want a cheap filament rack, this is the perfect solution. All you have to do is get the IKEA VESKEN cart and assemble it.
This rack holds up to 18 spools, which sit securely in the cart. There are a total of three levels in the cart, so you can store filament at different heights. Alternatively, you can use the top tray of the trolley as a holder for tools, accessories, and parts.
The features of this multi-talented rack don’t end here. Due to the wheels, it’s portable, and you can move it around your workspace for accessibility.
- Approximate cost: $15
- Complexity: Easy
- Buy: IKEA
License: The text of "Filament Storage: 10 Best Racks to Print, Build, or Buy" by All3DP is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.