Filament Guide for Lack Table

thingiverse

I'm currently designing an enclosure for my Prusa i3 Mk2 and I've chosen to go with the lack table method, which seems to be popular. I've been researching different filament guides, and they mostly feature small holes or long narrow holes. Both options make sense. I'm planning to increase the internal height of my enclosure to 18 inches by adding printed parts that will also serve as holders for the acrylic sides. I've heard that the small hole would be a disadvantage for taller prints, so the long hole might work better. This is where my idea came in: with the wider cone base on the underside and the small hole at the top, the pivot point of the filament is raised an additional 1.5 inches, which should allow for a small hole right at the top. At least that's my theory, still to be tested. I designed the bottom piece to have a 2.5-inch hole (since I have a hole saw bit of that size). It will screw into the bottom, and the top piece should fit snugly inside the bottom piece from above; some glue can be used if desired (I didn't). My approach seems to be working well, but I made a mistake with the dimensions on the larger cone - it 'fit' but needs to be downsized. I'm guessing that by reducing the thickness of the cone walls, it should fit perfectly. The files have been updated with better dimensions now. The outside diameter of the cone is 2.5 inches, so a hole saw of that size will work well. This design has been tested thoroughly; I've run several prints through and moved the filament full left and right at full height, and it works flawlessly. Note that my enclosure height (the bottom of the cone) is exactly 18 inches, which is the pre-cut height of the acrylic I purchased and designed my risers around. Paired with my filament spool holders, I feel like I've got a well-working system in place.