Filabot Dial Indicator

thingiverse

Dial indicator mount for the Filabot Spooler to monitor the filament diameter being produced. I needed a way to mount a dial indicator on the Spooler, so I came up with this solution quickly. It's not perfect, but it works great! Parts Needed... 1 - Dial Indicator: Mine is a cheap 1-10mm one from eBay, nothing special. 6 - 1" 6-32 Screws 6 - 1/4" 6-32 Screws 5 - 1/2" 6-32 Screws 6 - 6-32 Nuts 2 - 1/2" 8-32 Screws: For replacing the stock filament guide screws to mount the bracket. 3 - 608ZZ Bearings Print the bracket and back plate. The bracket fastens with the 6-1/4" screws from the back. Install the three bearings, which just push on to the bosses made for them. Then install the front plate with the 5-1/2" screws. Install the dial indicator and use four of the 6-32 1" screws and the nuts through the four holes that pinch it in place. The lower two screws go through the mounting bracket as well for extra strength. The front cover just installs with the two thumbscrews. For them, take the remaining two nuts and install into the thumbscrews, then take the remaining two 1" screws and run them through the thumbscrews and the nuts and tighten. For the thumbscrew holes, I tapped them. A threaded insert might be better in the future to prevent wear of the threads, but it works for now. For the five screws holding the front plate, I also tapped those holes. Alternatively, you could drill the holes out to pass a 6-32 screw and use 3/4" screws with nuts on the back, but the front plate doesn't take much if any force, so strength is not an issue here. I also tapped the six holes that the 1/4" screws go into from the mounting plate. They can't be any longer to avoid interference with the moving bearings inside. For the dial indicator, the one I bought had a 4.5mm shaft, so I made the indicator block to press on the end after removing its screw-in tip. This gives a more positive contact with the filament across the entire width of the center bearing. I just made that part from ABS for now, but in the future, I'll probably make it out of nylon for better wear resistance. It's a pretty easy build!