Filament spool hub for PVC

thingiverse

I keep my filament spools on a sturdy rod made of 3/4" schedule 40 PVC pipe because it's economical. During printing, I manually turn the spool to maintain slack in the filament so my extruder doesn't slip. This device adds a bearing to the spool, enabling it to roll freely without manual help. This Thing is designed with OpenSCAD and can be customized, making it compatible with any spool and any rod combination as long as the rod fits inside the spool's axial hole, and for smaller rods you may need smaller bearings.\nPrint Settings\nPrinter Brand:\n Printrbot\n Printer: \n Printrbot Plus\n Rafts: No\n Resolution: 0.3mm layers\n Supports: No\n Infill: 30% or more\n Notes:\n Since this Thing is customizable, it's possible that your print may need different settings. Consider adding a brim if your print is quite small.\nPost-Printing\nYou will need to attach the hubs to the spool in some manner. My spools are from MonoPrice.com. They have a hollow chamber which is larger than the axial holes, so I can run rods or bands through the hub without them interfering with the filament, which is wound further out from the center of the spool.\nYou may attach the hubs with hot-glue. This may not hold very securely. Alternatively, you could try gluing a tiny piece of steel into the axial hole of each bearing half and threading those pieces on to screw onto your #6 screws instead of putting them right onto the hub, which is a better choice because this allows for more tolerance than if you glued it directly on.\nAlternatively, you can make or buy plastic or aluminum retainers that are exactly as big around the 3D printed hubs, with a small groove down one side and attach those over your hub. You just then tap some 8mm screws into those tiny little pieces which would go straight into an aluminum bushing if made.\n\nOnce you've attached your hubs to your spool, slide the whole assembly onto your PVC rod and load your filament into your printer.\nThing in Action