Hi;
I bought a MatterHackers polycarbonate reel (3mm) for use with my LulzBot Mini. But as soon as I unlatched the end of the material, the spool immediately de-tensioned and came loose from the reel. Any idea how I can prevent this? Are there any polycarbonate reel vendors whose products do not experience this problem?
Thank you.
When I first started printing (4 years ago) I had was buying ABS from a supplier that did that, it would unspool and go all over the place. Someone suggested that I roll it up tightly and let it sit in a hot car (or oven on low) for a few hours. I did and while it slipped a little it did all stay on the roll until pulled off while printing.
That being said, after I changed suppliers a few times I found I was no longer having the issue. So while it can be fixed, you should not have to. Find a better supplier if they keep doing that.
I’ve had this problem in the past… My solution was to design a cage for the spool. Slips over the spool and contains stray filament. An early version is on Thingiverse: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:791748
Unfortunately all spools arent the same dimensions. While I have multiple versions for different real sizes, it seemed a losing battle to keep uploading versions.
If you know how to use SketchUp, I’d be happy to upload the SKP for you to modify… and figure out how to split for a smaller print platform.