Dry filament box universal axis holder with drilling template

prusaprinters

<p>This axis holder for the widely used Ikea 22L Samla boxes can be used with basically any form of axis, both round and squared. A non-round axis has the big advantage that you can take it out very easily, while it will still be secure from rotating with the used spool, which could potentially unwind your other spools.</p><p>And yes, I am well aware that this is by far not the first axis holder that transforms the popular IKEA Samla boxes (22L size) into dry filament containers to keep your filament dry even while you print.</p><p>All the time since I am into 3D printing, I thought it would be most practicable to have my filament in zipper bags to keep them dry, and only take them out when I want to print something. Now I had to realize that often I just want to try some prototype, without having to load filament first. This left me with the situation that I had a spool of PETG filament loaded for weeks in each of my printers, while it degraded more and more by absorbing ambient water vapor. So I decide to do what many others did before and build myself a dry box which can keep the filament dry while it is loaded in the printer.</p><p>I did not have a fitting rod for one of the many other designs out there and going to a home improvement shop in the midst of a raging pandemic did not seem to be worth the risk. So I designed this axis holder, together with a drilling template. With these parts, and 8 nuts and 8 screws M3x10, you can convert a Samla box into a filament box with an axis in a few minutes.</p><p>Due to the 90° diagonal shape of the axis holder, you can use both round rods of any sensible diameter (like a broomstick, a M10 threaded rod, a 3D-printed pipe, or even a branch of the bush in your garden) and all kinds of square bars (like an old chair leg, a carbon fiber rod or whatever else can carry 4-5 spools of filament).</p><h4>Print instructions</h4><p>Simply print all parts in the orientation as uploaded. Non requires supports or a brim. I recommend to print all parts with 100% infill.</p><p>You need the axis holder and the counter plate twice obviously, one for each side of the box. The drilling template can be reused again and again, so you need to print it only once.</p><p>I have printed my parts from PETG orange from DasFilament.de, as I always use PETG for all kind of functional parts. In this case, I would strongly assume that PLA works just as fine.</p><h4>Assembly:</h4><p>After printing all parts, fix the drilling template to the Samla box with some painters tape. It may look a bit too small at the top where you have to find the middle of the box, but you will realize that the really flat part of the box is just the size of the template (see picture).</p><p>Use a 3mm drill bit and a power drill, and drill right through the template into the box. Clean up the holes with a bigger drill bit and you are done. Use 4 nuts M3 and 4 screws M3x10 to attach the axis holder and the counter plate to each side of the box.</p><p>Cut whatever rod you may find at home to a length of 308mm and put it between the axis holders. Don't be afraid to use non-round pieces of wood, aluminum or steel, I found that the spools rotate absolutely fine anyway.</p>