Prusa i3 Spool Holder

thingiverse

Prusa i3 Spool Holder ================= Reduced friction spool holder for better prints. A smaller diameter axle than the factory spool holder gives better leverage to the filament drive. Spindles center the spool axis of rotation with the spool centre of gravity for easier rotation. Fully printed. No other hardware required. Printing --------- One each of the axle, left and right support arms, and nuts are needed. The left and right components are not interchangeable because they have opposite direction threads. Print spindles as required to fit your filament spools. If unsure, print the 50mm diameter spindle first and then print larger diameter spindles if necessary. A tight fit in the filament spool is not essential. Assembly --------- The arms fit to the axle with opposing threads so that any friction from the rotation of the filament spool helps keep everything tight. Begin with the axel and one arm. Decide which side the arm goes onto the axle according to the direction of the thread. (It will only fit one side.) Screw the arm onto the axle to the halfway position. The flat side of the axel should face downwards allowing that the arms slope backwards when fitted to the printer. Screw the other arm onto the axle to the halfway point. It should align with the first arm with little or no gap between them. If necessary, move them to the center position by rotating the axel. Fit the spool holder to the top of the printer so that the arm slopes backward like the factory spool holder. Push a spindle into your filament spool so that the flange is outermost to stop the spool coming off the holder. The filament should come forward off the top of the spool to go down into the print head. Secure the spool in place by threading a nut onto the end of the axel. The nut does not need to be tight because any rubbing from the spool will be in the tightening direction so it will not come off even if it is loose.