How many meters are in a 1 kg filament spool
Why a 1 kg spool holds different lengths for PLA, ABS and PETG, how diameter changes the total, and how to estimate the filament left on a partial roll.
Length depends on material, not just weight
A one kilogram spool does not hold a fixed length, because different plastics pack different masses into the same volume. Denser materials fit fewer meters per kilogram. For 1.75 mm filament, one kilogram works out to roughly 335 m of PLA, 400 m of ABS, 327 m of PETG, 344 m of TPU and 365 m of Nylon. That spread is why an ABS spool can outlast a PETG spool of the same weight on a long print.
How diameter reshapes the total
Doubling attention to diameter matters because area grows with the square of the radius. A 2.85 mm strand has about 2.65 times the cross-section of a 1.75 mm strand, so it packs far fewer meters into the same kilogram. One kilogram of 2.85 mm PLA is only around 126 m, against roughly 335 m for 1.75 mm PLA. Always confirm which diameter your printer uses before trusting a length figure from a chart.
Estimating what is left on a partial spool
To gauge a used roll, weigh the spool on a kitchen scale and subtract the empty spool weight, which many brands print on the side or list online. Feed the remaining grams into the weight-to-length mode with the correct diameter and density. The meters it returns tell you whether an upcoming print will finish. Leaving a small safety margin is wise, since the last few grams near the core often feed unevenly.
Turning a slicer estimate into grams
Slicers such as Cura, PrusaSlicer and OrcaSlicer report the filament a model needs, sometimes as a length and sometimes as a weight. If you only have the length, enter it in length-to-weight mode to see the grams, which is the number that matters when comparing against a spool. This is also a quick sanity check on a slicer weight estimate, because a large mismatch usually points to a wrong diameter or density setting.