Guided Filament Winder

thingiverse

This filament winder is designed for use with a home extruder, such as the Filastruder. The filament is looped through the winder and monitored by a pair of photo resistors and a laser to maintain sync with the extruder. A pinch roller based on Minimalistic Extruder design pulls the filament upwards before it passes over a spring-loaded arm, which is mounted on a potentiometer for tension control. Hall effect sensors detect spool rotation, moving the guide arm 1 filament diameter to ensure even coiling across the spool. The spool mount consists of PVC pipe with bearings and a gear, while the spool itself is made from printed ends fitting into a 2" PVC pipe. Powered by an Arduino Uno with a half breadboard, this winder's files are available on Thingiverse, while instructions can be found at the blog starting with http://wp.me/p2BWKW-9q. Files and instructions are ongoing works in progress, so follow both for updates.