Improved filament tube path parts for TAZ 5, 6

General LulzBot TAZ
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[[ UPDATED – new filament guide, centered better over the idler ]]

When printing particularly brittle filaments ( Carbon fiber, glass filled PLA, Metal Filled or Wood Filled PLA ) the filament tube often is the cause of filament breaking near the extruder.

I have attached two STL parts to improve the filament path. The first is an improved filament guide above the idler. You will need to replace the M3x12 bolt provided by Lulzbot with a longer one. I used a M3x20.

The second is a re-designed Filament idler for the Wade extruder. I seem to be having issues with Thingiverse setting the license wrong… I’ve emailed them to ask them to match the license for the original Wade parts ( GPL )

Print them at 0.35mm layer height, 78% infill, Line infill. ( first layer height 0.425 mm )

I used the following speed settings:

First layer speed : 35
Top/Bottom Speed : 40
Infill Speed : 100
Inner Perimeter Speed : 95
Outer Perimeter : 60
Small Perimeter Speed : 20
taz_6_filament_guide.stl (52.3 KB)
extruder_idler_16.stl (90.5 KB)

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Important Post-printing instructions:

When you print the filament idler, you will need to finish by drilling the filament path hole with a 1/8" ( ~3.1mm ) drill bit to make sure you have plenty of clearance. You may also wish to widen the filament feed guide tube hole similarly.

This idler is based on a slightly older design, so you may need to firmly “persuade” the idler bearing assembly into place.

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Hi-

Is the idea behind this improved Idler to enable the printing of flexible filaments?

J

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I printed out the filament path to hold the tube and it is perfect. Thank you for this!

One thing to note, when the extruder retracts the filament during bed leveling, the tube does not move and the filament can sometimes not retract as well. I simply plug the tube in after all is said and done with the leveling.

Also, when I bought M3x20 bolts, they only came in a 3 pack so if anyone needs, let me know and I can put one in the mail for you!

Thanks, Rich