Filament Spool SyStem

thingiverse

Filament Spool System V2 has been released. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2858676 This project was inspired by Henry Arnold's great thing #1332650, "airtight filament canister." I made several modifications mainly because the original Prusa M2 likes to be fed from the top. I have inverted the Rubbermaid container and added a holder for bagged desiccant. The dead air space is small, very small therefore only a small amount of desiccant is needed. The opening for the filament is small and can be sealed when not in use. The objective of the project is to create a container that is loaded once and kept airtight until the spool is finished. You need one container for each filament spool. You need to drill 3, 0.5 inch holes, which is best done with a special stepper drill (see attached picture). These bits are cheap at Harbor Freight. It's best to load the desiccant bags into the holder before attaching it to the container. Also, be careful to place the spool cradle in the exact center of the "lid." What is the "lid" and "bottom" is reversed in this project since I am using the container upside down! I have used these for 3 months and have made a few modifications along the way. The only problem I have had, is when doing a Z calibration and the extruder moves to the top of the frame, the filament will push up into the container and can slip over the edge of a full filament spool. This can be prevented by holding the filament outside the container. The project can be printed in PETG or PLA with equal results. PLA tends to make slightly better screw threads. I also made my own 608 bearings using Thingiverse #2598427 by SiberK. For the price of a jar of copper-plated BB's from Walmart (about $7.00) you and your neighbors can have a lifetime supply of 608 bearings. Print the bearing with PLA and use the version with 5 balls. The Rubbermaid clear container is a 21 cup size and can be bought at Amazon.com. The cloudy plastic version is cheaper and is sold at discount stores like Walmart. The cloudy plastic version is slightly smaller and you will need to use my version 2 parts for it to work. https://www.amazon.com/Rubbermaid-Modular-Storage-Canister-1840750/dp/B00BEUDWIC/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1? https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2598427 608 bearing (4.5mm steel BB's) by SiberK is licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution license. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1332650 Airtight Filament Canister by henryarnold is licensed under the Creative Commons