Filament Splicing Jig

thingiverse

Smooth vase mode color changes! Assembly: Use a piece of filament as a hinge pin to join the hinged halves. Check out the pic for assembly details. How to Use It: Refer to the pics for instructions on how to use this setup. Straighten the ends of the filament pieces to be joined. Insert trimmed filament into one end, secure with a large tight clip. Insert trimmed filament into the other end, attach a smaller loose clip. Place a heat source between the two, I'm using a thin leaf-blade type tip on a wood burning tool. Melt the ends. Push the filament from the loose clip side to create a good straight melty weld joint. Quickly make any alignment adjustments with a toothpick or similar item while the filament is still warm and flexible. Use nail clippers to remove excess melted material from the joint, if possible, before it cools and hardens. After cooling, remove the assembly from the jig and trim away excess material. Be extremely cautious when using the trimming block as there's a great potential for injury. Always be mindful of where the blade will cut through. I made a safer version of the trimming block after a minor accident. Clean the spliced joint thoroughly to ensure it feeds smoothly through your extruder. A little sandpaper helps with the final cleanup. I'm using a cheap wood burning tool without temperature adjustment, which heats up to 950°F. So far, this hasn't caused me any issues. TPU: To use TPU, don't put on the small loose clip. Instead, hold that end loosely with your fingers to allow pushing the melted ends together. It's a bit harder but still possible to get the two ends aligned properly. You just need to get up close and personal. A quick finger exerting pressure in the right direction can help a lot. Be extremely careful, as molten TPU is very hot! Trimming TPU with nail clippers is easier than expected. Made in Tinkercad