Spool Holder-Lulzbot Mini

thingiverse

This is a modification for the spool holder on a Lulzbot Mini, I started looking into them when I had a bit of a feed issue with the standard holder. Of course it turned out that the feed issue was caused by the tail of the filament sticking too far inside the spool and hanging up the rotation on the standard holder. It did make a pretty loud clump when it finally pulled over, so this is really the answer to a question that nobody asked. The standard holder works fine, it did however provide a good excuse to print something. I originally wanted to use bearings in the design but could not justify them given how easily the ABS parts spin on the spindle bolt. In fact, the spool may spin too freely with this mod. I have had one new spool unwind a turn or two just sitting there due to the memory in the filament. I added some spacers to fit between the knob and the hub to increase friction. Select a spacer that allows you to get some friction without having to tighten the nyloc nut too much, for me 19mm worked with spools that have a recessed center. I also added a revised spindle holder, which makes it easy to switch between different hubs. The spacing will stay the same whether you install them one way or the other. One nice thing about this design is you can print multiple hubs and leave them in the spools if you change material or color often, you could even match their color to the material. The hubs are designed for spools with a 52mm i.d. and a width of 50mm to about 70mm. This worked for me with spools from Lulzbot, MatterHackers, and Ultibot, I could do other diameters or lengths if there is any interest. The spindle holder attaches to the stock support and uses the stock attachment bolts. The 8mm x 120mm spindle bolt is pressed into the spindle holder and retained by a ridge on the inside of the hex hole, you can adjust the bolt length to meet your requirements. The knob has an 8mm nylock nut pressed into it, which keeps everything from falling off the end. It just needs to be snug against the nylon because the spool spins lefty-loosey. The hubs have a standard 3/4" x 6 acme thread. Print the spindle holder and the knob with the hex hole side down. Support material has been provided in the part design, just pull out the little rings after printing. The hubs print wide side down, so be sure to orient them correctly. Edit 7-3-16: I added a rear hub file with threads extended 10mm. Print Settings: Printer Brand: LulzBot Printer: Mini Rafts: No Supports: No Notes: Supports are provided as part of the STL files.