Reel Adapter System - Flashforge Inventor

thingiverse

Adapter system for FlashForge Inventor This adapter system is designed to allow a FlashForge Inventor to handle reels from other manufacturers. Currently supported are: * FlashForge original 600g reels (180mm diameter) * eSun 1kg reels (200mm diameter) * Filaform 500g reels (200mm diameter) - with hub adapter The system uses conical hubs that include a bearing, and a replacement reel holder assembly that lifts the reel center up enough to support larger reels. A 1/4" hex-head bolt is used, but a 5/16th would work better, requiring only minor adjustments. ## Parts * Reel Holder (reel-holder.scad) * Reel Hub x 2 (reel-hub.scad) * Skateboard bearing x 2 (22mm OD, 8mm ID, 7mm width) * Optional hub adapter for Filaform reels (hub-adapter.scad) * 3 1/2" bolt, 1/4" with 7/16" hex head and nut * Optional spanner (spanner.scad) ## Method The reel holder should be a direct replacement for the one within the Flashforge Inventor. You may need to adjust settings if you find your material distorts or shrinks too much. Print all parts before disassembling the printer. Insert a nut from your bolt into the receptacle in the reel holder - it should fit snugly. Tilt the printer onto its back and remove the base plate to access the nuts holding the reel holders in place. Remove both bolts and replace the reel holder with the newly printed one. Be cautious not to increase height, as the reel will hit the Y-axis motor. Once the reel holder is in place, attach two reel hubs and insert a skateboard bearing into each one. Assemble the cones inward into either side of the reel, then secure it with a bolt. You may find the spanner useful for tightening up the bolt. For Filaform 0.5kg reels, there's a difference between the two sides of the reel. The hub-adapter fills in this hole, allowing you to use the same reel-hubs as for all other reels. ## Issues The only real issue encountered is that eSun ABS+ reels tend to be very full, causing the filament to pop off the reel and twist when moving away from and back towards the filament guide. This isn't a fault of this adaptation, but rather a limitation of non-self-retracting reels. A minor issue arises with supports when printing the holder - two pins are catered for in the build, but auto-supports may add nearly impossible-to-remove supports. Simply delete these supports in the base if you use a high-enough infil percentage. ## To Do Since only 1/4" bolts were available at the time of building this system, it's designed around that. However, a 5/16" bolt is found to be a better fit for the bearing, so either make this optional or change the default bolt size in future updates.