Filament Reel Bearings for 1" PVC

thingiverse

I wanted to upgrade my single-color printer to a triple cone hotend extruder, the new Diamond model. Two key goals drove this decision: ease of filament spool replacement and reduction in drag caused by the pipes hanging from 1" PVC fittings. To solve these problems, I designed and printed bearings that fit over 1" PVC tubing. With four in place - two up front and two behind - my single-color filament spools now turn smoothly with no need for adjustment, accommodating spools of various sizes without hassle. Details on this design include Autodesk123D Design for its creation, Slic3r used for slicing, Repeiter Host for print control, all brought together using readily available PVC pipes and fittings found in local Home/Hardware stores. These custom spool holders will soon see use on two distinct machines - the Prusa i3's current setup now features a single bearing stand; in the future, I plan to integrate it with a CoreXY 3D printer based on 80/20 aluminum extrusions with a roomy 300x300x500 build space and triple Bowden hotend system.