Horizontal Filament Spinner Roller Thrust Bearing

thingiverse

This Customizer generates a thrust bearing minus the balls, used as a horizontal filament spool roller, or a filament spinner. The defaults work great for a Hatchbox 1kg spool and standard 4.5mm BBs, using about 26 of them. Supports are required! Printing in the orientation generated makes smoothest surfaces for ball bearings. The best airtight container I've found for this purpose is the Sistema KLIP IT Bakery Box, available on Amazon for around $9 at http://amzn.com/B001XSNP00. The optional stalk that sticks up keeps the lid from pressing on the spool and causing drag. UPDATE 10/1/2018: A working brace was uploaded to keep the spinner centered in the Sistema box. It's designed for a 70mm spinner, so make sure the spool hole diameter plus two times the support flange extension equals 70 or just under it. I plan to modify one leg to create space for a desiccant canister. UPDATE 10/7/2018: A version of the brace with a partial ring in the corner was uploaded for a desiccant container such as the excellent thingiverse.com/thing:2717500. These braces are specifically designed for use with the Sistema Bakery Box and aren't necessary to use the spinner. UPDATE 5/30/2019: STLs and SCAD were uploaded for version v2, featuring a narrow hub (32mm) and two raised rings (42mm, 52mm) on the flat of the cap, which has a total diameter of 88mm. This should work with multiple sizes of spool holes from 33mm to 87mm. The one with the stalk is designed for the Sistema box. Here's more explanation of the variables: part_to_generate = 3; // 1=top, 2=bottom, 3=both SETTINGS VARS spool_hole_diameter = 56; // inside diameter of actual spool hole hub_nub_slop = .5; // how much horizontal space to leave between spinner and spool support_flange_extension = 7; // how much the rim that supports the spool should overlap with the spool bearing_diameter = 4.5; // size of BBs/marbles/etc. being used bearing_channel_width_slop = .2; // how much wider than bearing diameter the channel should be bearing_channel_extra_depth = 5; // how deep to make the groove that bearings sit in, beyond size of bearing bearing_tongue_slop = 1; // how much narrower than bearing diameter the part that rides on top of bearings should be bearing_loading_well_depth = 2; // how much lower the inside of base is than outer wall so bearings are easier to load wall_thickness = 1.2; // slicer setting used for parts that only need to be double walls part_clearance = 1.2; // space to leave between two pieces so they don't rub container_height = 80; // inside height of spool container, used for creating support stalk if set; overall height will equal this stalk_diameter = 15; // size of part that sticks up solely to keep container lid from pressing down on spool stalk_slop = .5; // how much space to leave between stalk and edges of hole in spinning top part