Filament Splicer

Project cancelled, click here to read why
The idea for Filament Splicer was born about a month after our Ultimaker 3D Printer was build. As cool as 3D Printing is, printing in one color is boring.

Users of normal, single head FFF/FDM printers are stuck with single color unless they join filament pieces together to produce one multi-colored string. It is not very complicated but process is quite awkward and you will get fed up very quickly.

If you want to have proper, stable filament join you need to have right temperature on the tip of plastic when you connect pieces together. This is hard to achieve when you use some arbitrary heat source. You either underheat or overheat and burn the plastic. Using print head of your printer is best 'ad-hoc' solution but it leaves quite a mess on it, you cannot print when you splice and plastic which is in the head slowly gets burned while you take time to splice your string.

Then, of course there is issue with forming of the joint, carpet knife and fingers where our favorite tools for that job but it took quite a long time to form each joint.

We have had our share of failed prints due to broken joints / stuck filament and finally decided to create a device which will help to splice filament. Initial idea was to create fully automated unit: you place filament ends on copper block, close it, push the button and viola - you have your joint. That was the theory.... In practice this is impossible because PLA and ABS expand during heat-up and contract during cool down, this results in either no joint at all or bubble-filled mess.

Many headache filled days [Even best PLA is really nasty stuff when you breath it in for a while] later we dropped the idea and went for 'open' model with precisely manufactured grooves which help to quickly heat up, connect and form joints.

Thermal insulation was another challenge, we wanted to allow up to 260c temperature but nothing could properly insulate enclosure from hot copper block for prolonged period of time. Ceramic fiber thermal tape can take that heat but one needs a lot of it and then there is itching... Chinese tape is horrible and even best branded, made in USA [ThermoTec] tape is not flawless. We eventually gave up on ceramic fibre and went with PFTA [Teflon] plates. Since PFTA can be outright poisonous at high temperatures, we decided to use high quality - made in Europe material - this way we are sure that maximum temperature of 235c is well within safety limit.

Availability

Filament splicer can be pre-ordered via our campaign on Indiegogo, it is available as a DIY kit or fully assembled unit.

 

Assembled
Assembled
Kit
Kit

 

Open Source

Filament splicer blueprints are released under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License and can be downloaded from Thingiverse and Youmagine.

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filament splicer

51902 Comments

Anonymous

BrandonSaK (not verified)

on

Fri, 09/19/2025 - 02:20

Tourists fined and banned from Venice for swimming in canal
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A couple from the United Kingdom had to cut their vacation in Venice short after being caught swimming in the Grand Canal.

The 35-year-old British man and his 25-year-old Romanian girlfriend were forced to return to their home in the UK on Thursday, the same day they arrived in the city, after gondoliers reported them to local police for taking a dip in the canal.

The pair were fined €450 ($529) each and expelled from Venice for 48 hours, marking the 1,136th such sanction to be handed down to badly behaved tourists in the city so far this year, according to the Venice City Police.

The unnamed couple took the plunge near the Accademia bridge near St. Mark’s Square and gondoliers at the Rio San Vidal kiosk immediately called authorities, who removed them from the water.

“I thank the gondoliers for their cooperation and timely reporting,” said Venice Security Councillor Elisabetta Pesce in a statement published by city authorities on Friday.
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“Venice must be defended from those who disrespect it: protecting the city means ensuring decorum for residents and visitors who experience it with civility.”

Swimming in the Venice canals is prohibited for a variety of reasons, including the intense boat traffic and the cleanliness — or lack thereof — of the water, according to the city’s tourism ministry.

Of the 1,136 orders of expulsion from the city so far this year, about 10 were for swimming.

Related article
Tourists take photographs on the Rialto Bridge in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, April 8, 2023. Italy's upcoming budget outlook will probably incorporate a higher growth forecast for 2023 followed by a worsened outlook for subsequent years, according to people familiar with the matter. Photographer: Andrea Merola/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Rising waters and overtourism are killing Venice. Now the fight is on to save its soul

“Since the beginning of the year, we have issued a total of 1,136 orders of expulsion for incidents of degradation and uncivilized behavior,” Venice local police deputy commander Gianni Franzoi said in a statement shared with CNN.

Poor visitor behavior is one of the worst byproducts of overtourism, Franzoi said, and incidents are on the rise.

In July 2024, an Australian man was fined and expelled for diving off the Rialto Bridge after his friends posted about it on social media.

The year before, two French tourists were fined and expelled for skinny dipping in the canal under the moonlight. In August 2022, a German man was fined and expelled for surfing in the canal.

Related article
Aerial view of the plagued ghost island of Poveglia in the Venetian lagoon
‘Haunted’ Venice island to become a locals-only haven where tourists are banned

Venice’s authorities have been trying to balance the need for visitor income with residents’ demands for a city that works for them.

Day trippers now pay a €10 entrance fee on summer weekends and during busy periods throughout the year.

The city has also banned tour groups of more than 25 people, loudspeakers and megaphones, and even standing on narrow streets to listen to tour guides.

“It was necessary to establish a system of penalties that would effectively deter potential violations,” Pesce said when the ordinance was passed in February.

“Our goal remains to combat all forms of irregularities related to overtourism in the historic lagoon city center,” she added.

“The new rules for groups accompanied by guides encourage a more sustainable form of tourism, while also ensuring greater protection and safety in the city and better balancing the needs of Venice residents and visitors.”

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