Prusa i3 MK3 filament dust filter

thingiverse

There is ongoing discussion about whether a dust filter is necessary or useful for 3D printing. Honestly, I am still unsure of the answer, but I prefer not to have dust in my extruder. In the initial weeks of printing with my MK3 without a filter, I experienced a clogged nozzle, after installing a filter it never happened again. However, this could be simply a coincidence. One of the pictures shows the dust that the filter has filtered out in just a few weeks and I am not printing very frequently. To install the filter, simply print the part at 0.1mm layer height and insert a small piece of sponge inside. Push the filament through and you are done. Some people say that adding a drop of mineral oil to the sponge will catch even more dust but I prefer not to mess with oil near the hot end. The M14 thread between the lid and body has been modified for easy assembly, even at 0.2mm layer height it works perfectly for me. If you feed the filament through a PTFE tube, there is also a small 4mm hole in the lid for better fitment. ~Update January 19, 2019: I added a modified lid that holds a bowden tube if you are feeding the filament from a drybox. I also included the step files so you can modify it yourself if desired. Have fun printing!