This is a modification for the spool holder on a Lulzbot Mini. I started checking them out when I had a bit of a feed issue with the standard holder. Of course it turns out the feed issue was caused by the tail of the filament sticking too far out the inside of the spool and hanging up the rotation on the standard holder. It did make a pretty loud CLUMP when it finally pulled over (check your spools before you load them). So this is really the answer to a question that nobody asked. The standard holder works fine. It did however provide a good excuse to print something!
Anybody know of a spool holder design for the Mini where the spool doesn’t sit above the printer but rather on the side?
Or @ least off to about the 2:00 position? The spool on the mini sticks up about 4 inches too high and would hit the bottom of the shelf above it.
Yes PHugger, there is too little friction on this one as well. I am thinking of adding some spacers so friction could be increased by tightening the knob against the spacers.
Joe - If you have room beside your machne you could do one of the table top holders that the spool sits on top of. This one looks nice. http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:996398 I am pretty sure you don’t need to have bearings on one of these either. Plastic wheels spinning on plastic or bolts should be fine. You could just run the filament over the top of the machine and/or existing spool arm to feed it.
My homebuilt mini does not currently have a spool holder so i’m in the process of printing my own. Since i don’t have access to a TAZ build area i don’t currently have a way to print my own standard sized spool holder. I could order one off 3D Hubs i suppose, but i’m determined to print it myself.
I’m currently experimenting with a shortened arm of the spool holder that i just shrunk down in Solidworks. I will let you know how it goes. Who knows i may even end up designing one that sticks out to the side as well. Not sure yet. The first test piece is printing now (it barely fits on the mini print bed).
I’m working on designing one to fit this purpose as well. It also needs to be printable on a mini bed (as the original is not) since i only have a mini at the moment. Here is the test design i’m currently testing. So far it seems to be working really well, but i think it could still use a few tweaks yet. Still, what do you guy’s think? Is this the idea you were looking for?