Ender 3 Pro Filament Reel Guide w/ Bearings

thingiverse

First a disclaimer, this modification works for me but you may have different results. Make use of this at your own risk. Update 2/16/21 I had some small 6" spools that didn't work, I added a third bearing between the two shown. The stock Ender 3 Pro reel holder is rather simplistic and fitful. I searched for a better solution with bearings but not the end cap design you have to mount to the spool hub every time. I also didn’t want a 15 hr print job. I decided to use hardware I had available and to not do a full plastic design. This uses a metal axle. It mounts just like the original spool. AFTERWARD: After all this design and build I found that the annoying intermittent noise that I thought the reel jerking was really the extruder retracting. But now the feed to the extruder is very smooth, it rolls easily rather than jerks, and it was a fun project.