Filament Guide Stacker
by tbuser, published
Description
Pulls the filament off of the spools at a constant, low resistance around a gentle arc at a fixed position and angle. Without it, filament pulls off the side of the spool at an extreme tight angle causing the spool to bounce around during reversal and Z movement.
You don't need spool housings around the spool to keep the filament in place. Since it's being pulled off at a fixed angle, the filament no longer has a tendency to fall off the side and get tangled. It also doesn't unwrap when Z homes, the tube rises instead and the spool remains wrapped nicely tight. (which gets really bad when you stack a second spool on top)
Makes switching between the 2 spools really easy since when you pull one out of the extruder, the tube holds the filament in place instead of spinning out of the spool and making a mess.
Provides another place to stash your tools!
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Do you find that the enclosure helps the part integrity by keeping the build chamber warmer?
Well, I am having a problem with these parts, they are coming apart after the build, they split along the layers. I am using a TOM with MK6+ and 3mm white ABS.
What settings can I use to get them to stay together. The CharlesPax spool spindles also cracked along the build layers. :'(
I just loaded this on my TOM with ABP without the belt and when it ran the first rectangle that shows the build area the nozzle hit the socket head cap on the left side in the middle. Yikes!! =-O :'(
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Note: you must use a tube to guide the filament around, otherwise it will twist around at a bad angle. A tube with an OD of about 6mm will press fit nicely into the small holes in the side. I suggest some PTFE tubing like this mcmaster.com/#52335k34 (note, that tube from McMaster might require you to make the holes in openscad slightly smaller) about 3 feet or so - it has to be long enough to form a nice gentle curve to reduce resistance.
You could also try mounting it on the back left replacing the cap on top of the left Z rod. That might allow for a nicer curve through tubing...
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I just loaded this on my TOM with ABP without the belt and when it ran the first rectangle that shows the build area the nozzle hit the socket head cap on the left side in the middle. Yikes!! =-O :'(
My picture shows the bottom half of the filament guide being used as the test print of the whistle is being made.
Update: I uploaded a new version with holes going diagonal in both directions to make it more flexible depending on where you want to mount it and still have the logo facing forward... I did this so that I could mount my spools upside down using a new version of my filament spool stacker http://www.thingiverse.com/thi... and have the filament unwind at a more natural curve to further reduce friction. I also made the holes slightly smaller so that the PTFE tubing from http://www.mcmaster.com/#52335... fits better.
Great addition to the 'bot, and really cleans up the filament situation. I moved my filament cleaner to inside the guide, too.
By the way, if anyone is wondering if a filament cleaner is useful, here is what mine looked like after 1 Kg of ABS went thru it:
This is my setup and I also use a filament cleaner. It currently has more dust than syvwlch's cleaner and I have only gone through a half of my spool! I'm guessing that this must be factory dust....
Where are you people keeping your ABS? Under the cat!?
I've never used any kind of filament cleaner and never had any issues.
I finally printed them, had a slipping X axis mishap slowing me down. They (and the spool stacker) have cleaned up my filament situation substantially. I did feel the need to drill a new set of holes in order to get tangent to a full spool.
For tubing - 1/4" low pressure polyethylene tubing, such as for ice makers etc, works well for me. From any home supply and a lot cheaper than PTFE tubing (though we know we MUST get a McMaster hit occasionally)
Great solution. Beats my hot glued 1x2 for the first height with a box wrench clamped on for the second!. I'm firing up the printer now!
lol and I thought my solution was a little unruly :)
I tried to keep it as simple as I could and tried a few ways to guide the filament down using a modified housing that snapped onto the spool, but in the end a fixed PTFE tube worked the best.
Well, I am having a problem with these parts, they are coming apart after the build, they split along the layers. I am using a TOM with MK6+ and 3mm white ABS.
What settings can I use to get them to stay together. The CharlesPax spool spindles also cracked along the build layers. :'(