Filament reel tensioner

thingiverse

Filament reels have an annoying tendency to abruptly unwind their contents, resulting in twisted, tangled and snapped filament. After numerous "air prints," I decided to create a tensioner device for my Makerbot Replicator 1 Dual. The concept is straightforward - apply a constant frictional force to the face of the reel, thereby preventing it from unwinding. The OpenSCAD code allows customization of the dimensions, adjustment of the number of springs (thereby adjusting the reel friction) and either a Left- or Right-handed tensioner. The supplied dimensions are suited for the original reel spindles on the Replicator 1 Dual. Printed on a Makerbot Replicator 1 Dual at 90/150 mm/s, 0.2 mm layer thickness and 2 shells, with 10% infill, raft and supports. You will need to remove the supports underneath the leaf springs prior to use - just use a pair of pliers.