Printrbot spool holder with bearings

thingiverse

My Printrbot Simple Metal arrived without a spool holder, making my first print Emmett's Printrbot spool holder a must-do. The original spool holder worked fantastically and enabled long prints, but occasionally a full spool would cause the filament to slip off and wrap around the spindle below, halting movement and ruining the print in the process. On top of that, the friction between the spool and holder created annoying plastic dust on my printer and table. I decided to upgrade the original design by adding a bearing tray for the spool. This simple modification uses children's marbles (5/8 inch diameter) as bearings, readily available at any toy store. While I'm not the first to enhance Emmett's spool holder with ball bearings, this solution has worked so well for me that I felt compelled to share it.