Parametric horizontal spool holder (DIY bearing)

thingiverse

Horizontal Spool Holder for Anet A8. If Mounting on Top, Be Prepared to Trim Frame Section for Smooth Spinning. I've installed it at the top of my machine and found that you may need to shave off a small section of the frame so the spool spins freely without rubbing. So far, it looks promising but I haven't tried printing with it yet. However, I did notice that it spins very smoothly. For optimal performance, I anticipate that I'll need to create a filament guide to prevent the filament from slipping off the side of the spool. The stl files are optimized for rigid ink filament with a 54mm inner diameter. The scad file is also included, allowing anyone to create their own version if needed. When designing this holder, my primary concern was finding a space-saving solution that would fit within the confined area where I keep my machine. Since I didn't want to wait for bearings, I used steel balls from a set of geomag instead. Each ball is 12.5mm in diameter and you'll need 16 in total: 13 for the base and 3 for the top.