Yet Another Overhead Spool Holder for Rep 1, FF, etc.

thingiverse

There are plenty of overhead spool holders, and it's for good reason: Mounting spools on the back can be a real hassle. Up top, you get easy access to snag monitoring, view the quantity left, and effortless reloading - no need to crawl around the back to figure out what's going on. Plus, the filament feeds directly into the extruder from up there, making everything run smoothly. My setup passes through a filament out detector, a hood, my dust cleaner/oiler (a Dremel polishing wheel), and straight into the extruder without any need for top plates or guide tubes. Since I first started working on this project, my spools have been sitting on rollers above my fine acrylic hood - all thanks to Dave Randolph's thoughtful design. The filament feeds down through the seam in the top panels of the hood, but I wasn't too fond of it because I worried I'd crack the hood. So, using an overhead holder was always on my agenda, even if existing holders didn't quite fit right. They usually sat on the upper edge of the case and interfered with the hood. I also wanted something that blended in with the case, rather than a separate unit. This new holder clips onto the top side of the case without getting in the way of using or removing the hood - just perfect. The spool bar comes off easily to replace or swap out spools as needed. **Instructions** It's all based on some handy schedule 40 1/2" PVC pipe, with an outer diameter of about 0.8". I used five feet total, cutting it into three nineteen-inch pieces. Measure up and adjust accordingly. For the two side mounts, I'm relying on "pvc side holder 20L.stl" and "pvc side holder 20R"; one for each side. The '20' in the name represents a twenty-degree slant off vertical, but this can be adjusted using the provided .scad file. For my set up, I chose the 20 degrees because it places the spools perfectly above the hood's slot that lets filament feed down through. Both side holders mount with four M3-15 screws and nuts - easy peasy! Use the part itself as a guide, but be mindful not to damage the wires and belts inside. With everything fitting together so neatly, I can pop them in without any fuss or trouble - they should slide into place quite easily. If needed, a quick tug on either one would take it out, ready for reassembly when required. My spool crossbar is crafted from an old metal lamp post; seems classy to me, but you're welcome to use another material if you prefer! However, I had the misfortune of having this specific OD (19mm) pipe in my inventory and used it to match with that in the .scad file.