CTC Replicator Overhead Spool Holder

thingiverse

When attaching spools to the printer's rear, I often encountered difficulties with the loop of filament heading towards the print head getting stuck beneath another loop. Since adopting this design, I haven't experienced that issue. To accommodate each spool, you'll need a holder, its mirror image, two tubes, two spool bushes, and two threaded bushes. The spool bushes were intentionally crafted for a loose fit on the metal tube, placing the center of gravity below the axis of the tube. As a result, when the print head moves away from the holder, it raises the c of g of the spool, creating tension that takes up the slack in the filament as the head moves back towards it. The spool bush is designed for 58mm diameter hole filament spools but I've included an OpenScad file so you can customize it to fit other spool sizes. Initially, when I posted this design, I forgot to mention using a filament guide from thingiverse.com with a short length of 2mm inside diameter PTFE tube; only then did I realize that the slack in the filament is taken up when this is used.