Filament Spool Enclosure For Shaft Holder

thingiverse

I started printing with nylon recently, and wanted an easy way to keep my filament isolated from the humid environment using my existing overhead spool holder (just a straight rod that the spool hangs on and is free to rotate). This enclosure was designed around a common-sized spool: 200mm OD, 56mm ID, 67mm width. The spool is intended to still be able to rest on the rod, because it provides a low-friction means of filament distribution. The bore on the enclosure's center cap that the rod passes through (named Shaft Plate in the part files) is off-center to allow the spool to remain centered in the enclosure. A 4mm hole protrudes from the outer shell of the enclosure so you can thread in a pneumatic fitting for 4mm OD PTFE tubing, if desired. There are three different sizes of the shaft plate for three different sizes of shafts: 1/2" shaft OD (I made my holder with that size because I had some laying around), 8mm shaft OD, and 10mm shaft OD. Print out whichever one corresponds with the shaft you use on your spool holder. Printing: Side A: Qty 1 Side B: Qty 1 Shaft Plate: Qty 2 Assembly: Note that the shaft plates are designed to be pushed into the corresponding hole in each side piece, then be free to rotate in place. -Press one Shaft Plate into the hole in Side A, and one Shaft Plate into the hole in Side B so that the flat side of the Shaft Plate is to the outside of the Side parts -Place the spool inside Side A, then feed the filament through the exit port -If desired, place some dessicant pouches inside with the spool -Push Side B onto the Side A to enclose the spool -Push the enclosure onto the shaft, making sure the shaft runs through the center bore of the spool. You'll have to rotate the Shaft Plates to get them to align properly for the shaft to pass through -Place the assembly on your overhead spool holder, and feed into your extruder I'm currently printing it now. I'll update this with pictures of the finished part installed when it's complete. **Update 7/15/19** It's all printed and assembled! It's a pretty long print, and it's not the most beautiful thing ever, but it's functional. Comments are welcome on how it could be improved.