Have you ever ordered a specialty filament online in the midst of your Maker excitement, only to find that the material doesn’t work properly in you printer or give the aesthetic you were hoping for? Purchasing entire spools of consumer 3D printing filaments, particularly specialty PLAs, can be a costly and risky endeavor, but Filapack is here with a new approach to ensure that the filament we choose is the filament we actually need. Filapack, which was started by 3D printing professional Cole Washburn, is teaming up with a number of different filament companies to offer the Maker community a monthly material sample to test, before having to invest in an entire spool with uncertainty.
Currently in the early stages of an IndieGoGo campaign, Filapack is looking for $20,000 in crowdfunding to help launch their monthly filament subscription plan. For those who subscribe to Filapack, every month will come with four 50-gram samples of specialty filament sent straight to your door, an estimated retail value of about $28 a month. Backing Filapack now can get you anywhere from a one-month subscription ($20 USD) to a one-year subscription ($170). If one of these sample filaments so happen to be the one you’ve been looking for, you can then order a more plentiful spool directly from Filapack at a discount.
“Now you can try filament at a low, affordable cost every month so you can be sure you like it, before you buy it,” said the Filapack team. “It’s exciting for us to offer you the chance to receive new filament and print something extraordinary you haven’t even dreamed of yet.”
Even though Filapack is just getting started on their subscription package, they’ve already teamed up with some top-notch filament producers, including Proto-Pasta, Rep Rapper Tech, 3D Fuel, Clean Strands, and more. On the IndieGoGo page, Filapack has provided a few examples of the PLA they will be sending, such as Proto-Pasta’s Rustable Magnetic Iron, Stainless Steel, and their electrically conductive Carbon PLA. After Filapack’s campaign is fully funded, they plan to start shipping out their subscription services in June 2016.
With the funding, Filapack plans to prove to other filament producers that they’re a reliable and viable partner, hoping to add even more companies to their quality filament line-up. They also hope to obtain proper equipment to break down the filament into 50 gram samples. They plan on beginning this process in May, which will make filament sampling more affordable and convenient for everyone involved. Once the funding is complete, just tell Filaback what filament size you want (1.75 or 3mm) and you can start receiving specialty filament samples straight to your front door.
