Here’s a nifty trick: if you know the weight of your spool when it is empty, you can use that to track how far through a spool of filament you are during a print.
All you have to do is put the spool onto a spool holder, then put that onto a kitchen scale while it’s printing and watch as its weight falls.
When it gets close to the weight of your spool, you will know if there is enough filament left to complete the print. If not, then you can get ready to swap in a new spool.
Empty Spool Weight Database
Brand | Size | Year | Color | Width (mm) | Diameter (Inner/core/outer) | Weight |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
3D Solutech | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 65 | 57 /81 / 199 | 173g? |
3D Supply Source Transparent PLA/PETG | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 65 | 57 / 81/ 199 | 173g |
Atomic Filament | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 72 | 52 / 98 / 204 | 319g |
Atomic Filament | 1kg | 2016 | Black | 74 | 52 / 90 / 201 | 306 |
Colorfabb | 750g+ | 2015 | Clear | 57 | 53/105/200 | 236g? |
eSun Inland | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 67 | 53 / ? / 199 | 224g? |
eSun Intservo PLA/ABS | 1kg | 2015 | Clear | 64 | 52 / 90 / 200 | 253g |
Filamentum | 750g | 2017 | Clear | 57 | 53/105/200 | 236g? |
HanBot | 1kg | 2014 | Black | 78 | 40 / ? / 198 | ? |
Hatchbox ABS | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 62 | 32 / 58 / 200 | ? |
Hatchbox ABS | 1lb | 2015 | Black | 61 | 32 / 58 / 163 | 157g |
Honeycomb Drone | 1kb | 2015 | Clear | 53 | 52 / 60 / 220 | 183 |
IC3D ABS | 2.5lbs | 2014 | Black | 74 | 52 / ? / 203 | ? |
Invent-a-Part PLA | 1kg | 2014 | Black | 74 | 57 / 96 / 198 | 227g |
JustPLA Chroma Line PLA | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 93 | 57 / 95 / 180 | 197g |
MadeSolid PET+ | 1lb | 2014 | Black | 55 | 52 / ? / 199 | ? |
MadeSolid PET+ | 1kg | 2014 | Black | 71 | 53 / 93 / 203 | 345g |
MakerGeeks Brand PLA | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 83 | 38 / ? / 190 | ? |
MonoPrice PLA | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 78 | 39 / 96 / 194 | 221g |
NinjaFlex | 500g | 2014 | Black | 54 | 52 / 94 / 200 | 329g |
Octave ABS | 1kg | 2012 | Black | 90 | 32 / 58 / 161 | 168g |
Prototype Supply | 1kg | 2014 | Black | 69 | 53 / ? / 199 | ? |
Reprapper ABS | 1kg | 2012 | Black | 90 | 32 / 58 / 161 | 157g |
Sainsmart TPU | 800g | 2015 | Black | 65 | 57 / 81? / 199 | 173g |
Sainsmart TPU | 800g | 2015 | White | 84 | 32 / 49 / 162 | 153g |
SMW3D | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 78 | 32 / ? / 200 | 254g |
Taulman Nylon / Tglase | 1lb | 2014 | Black | 70 | 19 / 51 / 127 | 90g |
Taulman | 1lb | 2018 | Black | 54 | 52 / 97 / 200 | 390g |
Taulman PLA | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 84 | 38 / ? / 190 | ? |
Ultimachine PLA | 1kg | 2012 | Black | 71 | 53 / 93? / 203 | 345g ? |
Up! ABS | 700g | 2013 | Black | 55 | 53 / ? / 198 | ? |
XYD Filament | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 67 | 53 / ? / 198 | ? |
Yasin | 1kg | 2015 | Black | 60 | 48 / ? / 199 | ? |
Zen Toolworks Flexible | 1kg | 2014 | Black | 60 | 52 / ? / 198 | ? |
Ziro | 1kg | 226g |
Note: all measurements are estimates. Click here for information source.

How to find the empty spool weights of a full spool
Suppose you don’t see the spool you are looking for in the above database. How do you find the empty spool weight without removing all of the filament from a spool?
You might not be able to get the exact empty weight of a spool, but you should be able to calculate a close enough estimation.
Here’s how to estimate the empty weight of a full spool:
- Cut off a 1 cm length of filament, say a centimeter or less, and weigh it.
- Note that the approximate length of the filament on your spool is 330 meters for 1.75 mm diameter filament on a 1kg spool, and 110 meters for a 3.00 mm diameter filament on a 1kg spool. If you can find a more exact length from the manufacturer, even better.
- Multiply the weight of your 1 cm sample section of the filament by the full length of filament on the spool (approx. 3300 cm). Don’t forget to subtract the weight of the 1 cm sample.
- Finally, weigh the spool and subtract the total filament weight from the total spool weight and you will have a usable approximation of the weight of your empty spool.
Leave a comment with your spool weights!

This database will be updated on an ongoing basis. Feel free to leave a comment with your empty spool weights and we will add them to the table.
If your measurements differ from our data, let us know so we can check the weights and let everyone know. This is a team effort so help us help everyone else!
Thanks, and happy printing!
ZYLTech spools for 1kg spools are approximately 187g. Black. I haven’t measured the dimensions but this info came from an email exchange I had with their customer service regarding the issue who went into the warehouse and weighed several spools and gave me an average.
Overture 1kg spool weighs 235g here on my kitchen scale.
Warhorse 1kg PETG black spool weighs 144g empty
Hatchbox PLA 244g on my kitchen scal
Thanks for providing this resource! Just measured my empty spools:
Overture PLA (1kg): 249g (Batch 200201152):
Prusament PLA (1kg): 192g (Date on Spool: 4/7/20)
Prusament PETG (1kg): Avg: 194g
Spool 1: 192g (Date on Spool: 5/12/20)
Spool 2: 192g (Date on Spool: 5/16/20)
Spool 3: 194g (Date on Spool: 6/26/20)
Spool 4: 196g (Date on Spool: 6/29/20)
Spool 5: 196g (Date on Spool: 6/29/20)
Spool 6: 194g (Date on Spool: Ineligible)
ESUN PLA+ spool is aprox. 267g
Overture PETG 1KG empty spool is 235 grams
Acccreate 1.75mm PLA filament 1KG spool empty weight is 188grams.
GST 3D Filament. 1.75mm spool of Apple Green PLA+
214 gram empty.