Customizable Spool Holder using 608 Bearings (roll feeder)

thingiverse

The title says it all. This is spool holder (tool).\r\n\r\nI tried several spool holders from Thingiverse, and they looked great, but failed for me when printing. My cold-bed printer tends to create "cupped" objects when printing, so I needed walls that were thicker before reaching the bearing housing. This way, the bearing housing would print square and side will be usable. I also added a split in for the bearing hub / shaft and a central screw to overcome all print errors.\r\n\r\nThe OpenSCAD program (included) can be used to create holders for any size of spool. So it is not limited to just 200mm 1kg spools. If you have heavier spools like the 25kg (55lbs) & 50kg (110lbs), the tool can even make multiple bearing mount points. Plus, you have choices of fill patterns, splitting the hubs and screw options (including none).\r\nSince OpenSCAD is software-based, if you want to use other sizes of bearings (designed for 608 module [id 8mm x od 22mm x width 7mm), there is one place to change all of those settings. If you need larger “screw” holes like M8 bolt with thick walls or feeding a CNC, again only one point to change.\r\n\r\nThe attached STL are for what I think would be common needs without loading OpenSCAD and making your own versions.\r\n\r\nSizes: 5mm smaller than average sizes because smaller can work with bigger, but not the other way around. 1kg-195, 3kg&5kg are 270. The 500 is there to show what's possible even larger spools.\r\n\r\nAlignment:\r\n\r\n"0ref": all layouts are spaced vertically so that any spooler holder will work with any other spool holder, so the spool is always level. So a -30+30 and -25+25 holders will hold the spool level, even though the sizes are different. The "0ref" came from “assume center bottom always has a bearing and spacing, even if not present”. \r\n\r\n"min" type makes the bottom center as low as possible. So the -25+25 and -30+30 will NOT sit level, with the -30+30 side will be lower. Now -30+30 will work with a -30+60, since the 30 is what defines the base height. There is also a setting to increase the height to align different sizes. There is another setting to allow for adding thicker faces to increase the strength and balance of holder. Minimum face is 4mm, when adding in the bearing of 7mm, the holder is 15mm thick.\r\n\r\nType: There are two types symmetrical (sym) and asymmetrical (left & right sides). Symmetrical will always ensure a bearing position is the same like -30+30 and -25+25. Asymmetrical allows for different bearing positions, like -30+60.\r\n\r\nFor fun, there's a -80-60-40-20+0+20+40+60+80 to show how strange you can make a spool holder.\r\n\r\nI added the -30+60 pattern (see first picture), in case your 3D printer pulls horizontally than vertically. This way, place +60 side facing the printer and you will be sure that it cannot be pulled off the base. My spool is located on top of a cabinet next to my printer; it pulls down. If you create smaller spool holders like -10+10, then you may find the spool could be pulled off. I just have not had that experience yet.\r\n\r\nThere's even a "bearing". This object allows for testing before your real bearings get in or as a way to include light friction by replacing one bearing, located farthest from where the filament is pulled, to help slow down the spool faster. My holder during testing would “pull-out” about 200mm from the roll when the print head is moving fast and the spool gets up to speed.\r\n\r\nHave fun!\r\n\r\n*** UPDATE ***\r\nJust saw this 3D print for a 608 bearing... I have not tried it, but it looks real cool https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4628063