Monoprice Mini Delta Clip for Paint Roller Spool Holder

prusaprinters

I truly believe a $2 paint roller makes one of the best possible filament spool holders. When my Monoprice Mini Delta arrived with what may be one of the worst spool holders ever, my task was clear. This clip is a remix of Blank.stl from Thing #2701961. I used TinkerCad to add a semi-circular cut for the roller handle, and a couple of slots for a zip-tie. The base of the roller handle, and its weight, are supported by the stock spool holder bracket. Why a paint roller? And why on the MPMD? Several reasons: The paint roller has much lower friction than the cheap skate bearings used by other spool holders, not to mention all the non-rolling spool holders. The non-rolling spool holders are truly vile, as the spool ALWAYS rocks, leading to filament jerking that can be seen in the print, especially when trying to print at high speed. The paint roller puts the spool well above the extruder. When the spool is below, a long retract can cause a loop of filament to drop, leading to binding or a tangle. This can't happen when the spool is above the extruder inlet. On the MPMD, this mount puts the spool so it overhangs the printer, moving the center of gravity toward the center, making the printer a bit more stable than the stock spool holder. This mount puts the spool in-line with the extruder inlet. The stock mount causes the filament to rub against the spool and the printer tower, leading to excess tension on the extruder. Some folks have added PTFE bits to reduce this friction, but this approach totally eliminates it! The photo shows my current setup. Notice the paint on the handle and the metal: This roller was used to paint my kitchen! It still works great, and is easy to remove should the need to paint ever strike me again. Instructions: Print with 25% infill, else the arms may crack. Be sure to allow for shrinkage! For the PLA I used, I needed to scale X and Y to 103%. I lofted Z to be 12 mm for the bracket in the picture. I think thinner will also work well. This part is just about the same size as the MPMD bed, so there's no room for much of a brim or skirt. I used a raft with only 1mm extra margin and 1mm smoothing. Feed the tie wrap so it enters from the same side (top or bottom) on both sides of the paint roller handle (left and right). Otherwise, the resulting twist may snap the bracket. When feeding the tie-wrap, it should feel like it loops from one side to the other. TODO: While this version works, if too many folks report arms breaking during installation, I have some ideas for how to reduce that stress. Please let me know! Category: 3D Printer Accessories