Ball-Bearing Spool Saddles for 3D Filament

thingiverse

While this isn't a revolutionary approach to building 3D filament spool holders, this design is simple to manufacture and 100% printable, except for the 22x8mm or 16x8mm ball bearings. These bearings are very common and readily available on eBay for 35-80 cents each, depending on the seller's reputation and the quantity ordered. The Single-Width versions require the larger (22mm OD x 8mm bore x 7mm wide) bearings, while the One-Size-Fits-All design uses the smaller (16mm OD x 8mm bore x 5mm wide) bearings. The saddle dimensions are the center-to-center distances between the spool flanges of many popular filament brands: 50mm matches XYXprinting refill spools (as well as those liberated from Da Vinci cartridges); 75mm fits WYZworks and similar 1Kg spools; and the intermediate (62.5mm) width fits Excelvan and similar spools. There are other spool widths available, but these three have been found to be readily accessible at reasonable prices. The One-Size-Fits-All saddle will accept all of the above, as well as any others that are less than about 80mm across. Print Settings Printer: XYZ Da Vinci AiO 1.0 Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: Good Infill: Default Notes: The rectangular filament guide openings include built-in 0.5mm "supports" which can be easily removed following printing. Post-Printing The printed pivot pins are designed to fit snugly into the mating holes in the saddle frames as well as the bearing bores. Cleaning out the printed holes with an 8mm (letter size "O") drill bit and removing any rough spots on the pins with a small file or sandpaper has proven effective. If the pins can be pushed into the bearings without difficulty, they should also fit the frames satisfactorily. How I Designed This These designs are admittedly similar to some seen around the Web, but none like the One-Size-Fits-All design can be recalled. All were created using 123D Design software.