22mm bearing spool holder conversion

thingiverse

Edit 02/08/2017: After a while using this design, I highly recommend adding some resistance. Although it works exceptionally well on spools that are lightly used, it tends to unravel slightly on new spools. Essentially, it's too effective. Wanhao Duplicator i3 plus bearing spool holder conversion enables the spools to be securely held in place and utilizes bearings to unspool the plastic. The cone may need to be modified to fit some spools as they protrude on both sides of the spool (they might collide if the spool is not wide enough), but they work perfectly with the ones I have. I'm eagerly awaiting the 8mm rod from McMaster to arrive. In the meantime, I ended up using a 5/16th threaded rod from Home Depot that was lying around. This conversion requires having two sets of brackets that come with the Wanhao Duplicator i3 plus or printing your own. I designed this specifically to fit 22mm miniature bearings, which can be found on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002BBICBK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1. The rod is from McMaster Carr and it's a simple 8mm aluminum unpolished rod that costs $2 with change for one foot. However, I ended up using a 5/16th threaded rod instead so I could tighten the cones. On the other side, I attached the bracket using 3M 468MP 200MP adhesive. This conversion can potentially accommodate two spools if you're interested in that sort of thing. Print Settings: Rafts: Doesn't Matter Supports: Yes Resolution: 2.00 Infill: 10% or lower with stronger plastics Notes: I highly recommend using support for the piece with the thread.