Ender 3 Filament & E-Step Guide

thingiverse

This is my 3rd take on this remix and I think I've ironed out most of the wrinkles. The first version didn't use a Bowden tube, causing too much drag on extrusion and retraction. Version 2 had me reuse the stock Bowden tube I'd saved from upgrading to line the guide, but it wasn't as transparent as I'd hoped, making it tough to find an exact 100mm mark on its curved surface. That brings us to version 3 - this guide perfectly guides filament into the extruder without needing additional guides near the spool. There's a slight bend as it exits the tube into the extruder, but I haven't noticed any issues so far. Depending on your machine's calibration, the first gap should be 100mm, followed by a 2mm marker and then an 18mm gap. Initially, this was just about streamlining E-steps without fussing with calipers or other tools. Now, though, I feel like this is such a great tool that it deserves to be shared here.