Ball-style Filament Guide for Prusa i3 Mk3S

prusaprinters

<p>This is a filament guide for the Mk3S that implements @Nerys's rotating ball mechanism. I've been using this kind of filament guide on my other printer makes for a long time and finally decided to adapt it for the Prusa i3 Mk3S.</p><p>Do you NEED a filament guide? No. But to quote @Nerys:</p><blockquote><p>"...sometimes on retraction or if the spool suddenly moves the filament can jump off the spool and now wrap itself around the spool holder which will eventually cause it to jam and bind ruining your print</p><p>This restricts the filament path to that point directly in front of the school [sic] so it's not possible for it to jump off the spool on the normal conditions no matter what the printer does since the filament cannot freely move left and right now they can swivel left and right but not moving right which should keep it from jumping it just makes the printing more reliable and less likely to fail"</p></blockquote><p>There are plenty of filament guides out there. What makes this design different is the rotating ball that can pivot 360 degrees in all directions. Is this super significant? I don't think so but it sure looks cool. And it seems a bit less noisy in my LACK enclosure as I don't hear the filament rattle along my previous (no-ball style) guide anymore.</p><p>This is a remix of <a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1598317">@Nerys's Wanhao i3 Maker Select filament guide</a> and <a href="https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/30022">@bbrendon's filament guide mount for the Mk3S</a></p><p><strong>If you like what I'm doing…</strong><br><strong>&nbsp;</strong><br>…consider&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mix579">buying me a coffee</a>.<br><br><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/69467/rich_content/51be8e2b-e636-4591-a248-63a50ce552e9/image.png#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22eb691bae-eb13-49b7-b2f0-e249fd91e239%22%2C%22w%22%3A170%2C%22h%22%3A37%7D" alt="orange_img.webp"><br>&nbsp;</p><h3>Print instructions</h3><p><strong>Supports:</strong> No<br><strong>Resolution:</strong> 0.2<br><strong>Infill:</strong> 15%<br><strong>Notes:</strong></p><p>I used Prusament Orange PETG but PLA is perfectly fine.</p><p>The guide part has a small lip on its side, where the square marks the attachment point for the mount. In your slicer, make sure the part is oriented so that the lip is closer to the bed and pointing upward. This way, no supports required.</p><p>With a decently calibrated printer, the inside (ball) of the guide should break free easily if you grab it with two fingers and rotate freely.</p><p>Use superglue or epoxy to glue guide and mount together.</p>