SMALL - Universal Spool Holder

thingiverse

This is the page for my Small sized spool holder, specifically designed for a particular size of my universal spool holder. You can find the main page for this universal spool holder below, which offers sizes to fit 99% of the spools on the market today. Main Page - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1001312 If you're already on this page, I assume you've decided on the size you need (which in this case is this small size). Therefore, I won't elaborate further. Instead, let's proceed with the instructional video on how to print and assemble the spool holder: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG1CFx9aUIk FilamentChallenge Instructions: To ensure a good fit, follow these simple steps: First, Find a spool you want to hold. In the center of the spool, there's a hole where the top rod will go through it. Determine which sized top rod is needed – either large or small. Most spools have holes with a diameter of around 50mm; however, some (like Hatchbox) have smaller holes of about 30mm. If your hole is less than 50mm but greater than or equal to 30mm, you'll need Small Top arm pair. If your hole is greater than or equal to 50mm, go with a Big Top arm pair (which is suitable for most spools). Second, Now, decide what sized arms you should use. Lay the spool flat and measure its full outer diameter from end to end. You can find all necessary files on this page, but I'll give you direct links so you don't get the wrong one. If your spool measures less than or around 160mm in diameter, print the Small size. If it's greater than 160mm but less than or around 200mm, go with Standard size (suitable for about 90% of spools). Link - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:943563 If your spool measures greater than 200mm but less than 270mm in diameter, print the Oversized size (ideal for large Makerbot spools). Link - http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1001359 CheckPoint Now that you know what top and arm sizes you need, you're good to go with the arms. Just double-check that you've got it right: If you measured and decided on a Big Top and Standard sized arms, you'll need two files for your arms: Standard_BigTop_BaseArm and Standard_BigTop_SpinnerArm. If this makes sense, you can proceed to the next step – rod length. Third, Determine the size of rods you should use. To do so, first understand how the rods work: I have two types of rods – BigRod & SmallRod. If you've decided on a BigTop, you'll need 2 Small Rods and 1 Big Rod of equal length. If you chose a SmallTop, you'll need 3 Small Rods of equal length. Now to determine the length: Lay your spool down on its side and measure the height from end to end (if it was standing upright, this would be the width). Take that measurement in metric, then add 10mm. If your measurement is 65mm, for example, you'll want 75mm rods. I added an extra 10mm to account for the lost length when the rod screws into the base arm. This ensures strength in the holder. All my rods come in 5mm increments from 40-110mm in length – 40,45,50,55,60 and so on. If you get an odd measurement like 63mm, round up to take 75mm rods. However, if it's Hatchbox, I made a special 63mm rod that is annotated in the STL file. That's it!