customizable Filament Spool Drawer

thingiverse

I love the idea of reusing old filament spools as the base for small boxes. Unfortunately, however, filament spools vary considerably in their sizes. As a consequence, a given STL file will almost certainly not fit into the spools *you* have. For that reason, the drawers shown here have been modeled by means of [OpenJSCAD](https://openjscad.xyz/dokuwiki/doku.php), which give you the possibility to adjust them just by changing a few numbers and [rerun the script in your browser](https://openjscad.xyz/) ### Script Parameters ### The most important script parameters are * `innerDrawerDiameter`, * `outerDrawerDiameter` and * `DrawerHeight` A long bolt serves as the drawer's axis. It is pushed through the upper part of the spool frame and fixed with a nut just underneath the frame - the drawer already leaves some space for it. There is no need for the bolt to reach until the bottom of the spool frame - if you don't stack several drawers above each other but use a single one only, it is sufficient for the bolt to have approx. 50% of the drawer's height. By default, an M4 bolt is used, but you may choose a different size instead and adjust parameter "`ScrewDiameter`" accordingly. ### How to measure the Script Parameters ### The "`innerDrawerDiameter`" specifies the inner diameter of the area available for drawers. Ridges on the spool frame normally indicate where the inner tube ends - when in doubt, prefer a slightly larger value or the drawer won't fit into the spool. The "`outerDrawerDiameter`" specifies the outer diameter of the drawer. Before measuring it, you should first drill the four holes for the axes - don't forget to leave room for the bolt head and any washers (if you want some). Then, just measure the outer distance between two opposite boreholes and add twice the thickness of the drawer walls (by default, they are 2mm thick - thus, simply add 4mm to the outer distance of the boreholes) The "`DrawerHeight`" specifies the height of the drawer, i.e., the height of the clear space between the lower and the upper part of the spool frame. It is often a good idea to make it just a little bit smaller than possible although modern printers are usually good enough to print a drawer which can be moved with ease but still has enough friction just not to open by itself. ### Optional Dividers ### By default, the drawer is built without any dividers. But if you like, you may add up to three dividers by uncommenting their mentioning at the end of the script. With a drawer covering 90° (one fourth) of a spool, the dividers are * "`Divider45Degrees`" at an angle of 45°, * "`Divider30Degrees`" at an angle of 30° and * "`Divider60Degrees`" at an angle of 60° Normally, you will either add a single "`Divider45Degrees`" or both "`Divider30Degrees`" and "`Divider60Degrees`", but, in principle, you are free to combine dividers as you like. ### Stacking Drawers ### By default, a single drawer fills the complete height of a filament spool. If you prefer to stack several flat drawers on top of each other, you will have to adjust the "`DrawerHeight`" accordingly, e.g. by applying a factor like 0.5 and print several of them (in this example: 2) In that case, however, the bolt used as the axis should reach from the top of the spool frame down to approx. half of the height of the lowest drawer. ### How to run the Script ### Use your favorite text editor to load the script and adjust the parameters mentioned above. Then navigate your browser to [OpenJSCAD](https://openjscad.xyz/), click on the pen in the upper right corner, and copy and paste your script into the input area that just opened. Press Shift-Enter to run the script and click on the pen again to close the script input area. Choose "STL (ascii)" or "STL (binary)" as output format and click on "Export" - the generated STL file will then be saved onto your file system and may be printed.