Filament guide with roller - Ender 3

thingiverse

A filament guide featuring a roller ensures even smoother filament feed than a fixed ring setup. This design is specifically tailored for the Ender 3 and easily integrates into the back of the aluminum profile. The T-shaped arm strikes a perfect balance between being lightweight yet strong, while minimizing material usage. Its length is optimized to provide seamless operation during both low and high-print jobs. Additionally, this guide allows you to position the spool holder more centrally. This filament guide prints in just three parts, making assembly an extremely straightforward process. A strategically placed slit enables easy installation without having to pull filament from the extruder. The slight protrusions near where the axis is situated ensure a small clearance between the roller and base, promoting smooth rolling; however, lightly sanding the roller edges can still be beneficial, but it's not strictly necessary. For users who encounter difficulties slicing the base model (which has some inherent flaws but works perfectly fine in Cura) or prefer to print it without supports for the teeth, alessi71 has created a remixed version of the main part available here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3218716. I've included this file with his permission for added convenience and have also optimized its orientation for optimal printing results. You can use the file Base-FilamentGuide_Roller_V2_Rotated.stl. If you're using the Z knob, I've created a remix that's longer and compatible with this guide: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3387796. This filament guide works best in conjunction with another one of my designs, specifically the extruder guide: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3122485