Prusa I3 MK3 foldable spool holder

myminifactory

Have you ever wanted to take your Prusa I3 MK3 somewhere, and thought, "I really wish this spool holder could just fold up so that I wouldn't have to remove it from my printer and carry it around with me."? Well...let's be honest, you've probably never had that exact thought in your life, but now I bet you wish you had a foldable spool holder, right? Well then I've got a fantastic one for you! This is the ultimate spool holder for your Prusa I3 MK3! The collapsible design of this spool holder is what gives it its unique flair! The steps are shown in the images, but to make them clearer, I've included the steps below! 1. Print out all of the components. Print the components at 100% scale. I used a 5% infill with three perimeters and two top and bottom layers, which yielded excellent results. 2. Assemble all of your printed parts and attach them according to the second image above. 3. Hammer two 608zz bearings into the long piece with two holes in it. Each side has a lip on it, so make sure you insert it into the correct side. For the side with the prong protruding, ensure that you place it on an edge while hammering it in, because you don't want to break the prong! 4. Line up the rounded piece on top of the long piece with the bearings in it. Make sure that you line it up on the side without the prong on it. Also, make sure you align the hole on the rounded piece with the inner hole of the bearing. 5. Take the round peg and hammer it into the rounded piece until it is nearly flush with the rounded piece. The rounded piece should have 270 degrees of rotation after the peg is hammered in. 6. Now take the peg that has uneven sides, and screw an M3x35 into it until you can barely see the tip of it protruding from the end. 7. Now take this peg and hammer it into the inner bearing hole. Make sure the screw head is on the opposite side of the prong! 8. Line up the peg with the inner hole, and the end of the prong with a wider section of the channel on the block piece. Once you have everything aligned, push them into place. 9. Screw the screw on the back of the peg into the peg until it is flush with the surface of the peg. 10. Now check to make sure that the arm you just screwed in has 90 degrees of motion, but do this gently so you don't break the prong! 11. Now find the small screw hole next to the peg you just screwed in, and screw an M3x35 screw into it (I used an M3x50 because it was all I had lying around). Once you begin to feel resistance on the screw, loosen it by 2 turns. 12. You are now finished with the assembly process of your folding spool holder! Now you have to test it. With your holder starting in the down position, rotate the long arm up 90 degrees, and tighten the screw that goes through the prong by 3-4 turns, or until the arm feels as though it won't fall over. Now rotate the small arm around 270 degrees until it rests perpendicular (at a 90-degree angle) to the long arm. You have successfully opened your spool holder for the first time! Just do the opposite to fold it back into its compact form. 13. To attach the spool holder to your printer, simply take the top lip of the block piece and place it on the top of the printer frame. Now take the smaller bottom lip and force it over the inner side of the printer frame. Your spool holder is now attached to your printer and ready for use! Happy printing!