Filament Guide and Spool Enclosure
Filament Guide and Spool Enclosure
3D
Published 2019-01-07T12:11:07+00:00
A filament guide and spool enclosure for the Prusa i3 MK3 printer. It gets the filament spool off the top of the frame and provides a bit of humidity protection if you leave your filament loaded for a few days. It consists of three main assembies.
- PTFE Tube Guide. The PTFE tube guide consists of a Guide Bracket, which snap fits into the z-axis-top part hexagonal opening and extends a threaded opening over the build plate. The opening accommodates the PTFE tube lock, which is a slotted, tapered tube through which the PTFE guide tube is passed. The integrated thumb screw provides the means to adjust the locking force preventing axial movement of the PTFE tube. The PTFE tube terminates at the Threaded Filament Sensor Cover, which accomodates a PC4-M6 push filtting to lock the PTFE tube to the filament sensor cover. The push fitting and 77 cm length of PTFE tube are the only non-printed components required.
- Spool Case. This fully 3D printed enclosed spool holder is assembled from a foldable Hex Panel component with "permanent" snapfit joinery. Assembly is nearly toolless (pliers likely required to snap some of the joints together unless you have fantastic finger strength). The two case halves are finished with a set of Rails and Stiles. The rails incorporate a light, snap-fit closure between the two case halves and the lower set of rails integrates the spool axle cradle. In order to allow the filament to pass through the case, a Hex Panel Port receives a snap-fit, threaded Tube Flange through which another adjustable PTFE Tube Lock is installed. Finally, there is a Gel Cover and associated Plug that allows loose silica gel desiccant to be contained in a hex panel. Though not air-tight, the fit of the case parts is close enough to allow silica gel to maintain an internal humidity lower than than the external environment for at least a couple days.
- Spool Axle. Also fully 3D printed, the adjustable axle assembly accomodates various filament spool widths with two threaded Spool Flanges, each of which incorporates a print-in-place gear bearing. The Flex Axle, which was printed in vase mode, has an integrated spring design to reduce lateral movement of the spool flanges. The assembly nominally handles filament spools with through-hole diameters of 48 to 75 cm and widths from 40 to 70 cm, but is dependent on a spool's specific combination this diameter and width.
I'd like to continue to improve the design... I hope you give these parts a try and let me know how it goes. The Spool Axle assembly is one of the most satisfying prints I've produced and each time I see those gear bearings print it makes me happy!
I've printed these mostly in generic PETG and used the provided Slic3r PE settings for 0.2 mm layer height as the starting point. I've found some variation in the results, especially with the snap-fits, depending on the filament. For example, in the pictured prints the blue filament yielded much tighter fitting parts than did the red or white filament.
Hex Frame
Layer Height: 0.20 mm
Perimeters: 5
Solid Layers: 5 top, 4 bottom
Infill: 10%
Fill angle: 60
Rails & Stiles
Layer Height: 0.20 mm
Perimeters: 5
Solid Layers: 0 top, 0 bottom
Infill: 0
* rails have built-in supports
Gel Cover
Layer Height: 0.20 mm
Perimeters: 3
Solid Layers: 4 top, 2 bottom
Infill: 20%
Spool Flange
Layer Height: 0.20 mm
Perimeters: 4
Solid Layers: 0 top, 0 bottom
Infill: 0
Flex Axle
Layer Height: 0.20 mm
Perimeters: 1, Vase Mode
Solid Layers: 0 top, 0 bottom
Infill: 0
Brim: 2 mm
Guide Bracket
Layer Height: 0.20 mm
Perimeters: 5
Solid Layers: 3 top, 2 bottom
Infill: 15%
PTFE Lock, Lock Flange
Layer Height: 0.15 mm
Perimeters: 5
Solid Layers: 0 top, 0 bottom
Infill: 0
Sensor Cover
Layer Height: 0.15 mm
Perimeters: 4
Solid Layers: 5 top, 4 bottom
Infill: 20%
| Date published | 07/01/2019 |
| Support Free | YES |