Adjustable 50mm diameter spool holder for FFCP

cults3d

There will be no more updates to this page. Go to the new GitHub page for the latest updates. Tired of printing a new spool holder for every new brand of filament you buy, because they use spools with a vastly or slightly different thickness (axle length)? No more with this universal adaptable spool holder. This is The One Spool Holder to Rule Them All. It has an adjustable length that allows any spool with 54 mm center hole to be mounted securely, if its thickness (at the hole) is between 35 and 80 mm or even up to 100 mm if you wish. The length is adjusted with a knob. You can avoid that spools with a recessed axle (like the ones that come with the FFCP) rub against the side, by mounting a spacer ring. See the post-printing section for illustrations. (There are two versions of the screw, the ‘smooth’ one is probably the nicest but the original one with sharp edges is still available for those who like some extra tactile feedback.) Another advantage of the adjustability is that the spool holder can act as a brake, i.e. the amount of friction can be regulated by tightening the flange against the spool. For instance you can lock an unused spool so it doesn't unwind from vibrations while printing with the other spool (if a spool unwinds, there is a risk that the filament will tangle into itself when you print with it). Assembly is straightforward. First put the screw through the end piece and secure it with the circlip (see first image in ‘post-printing’ section). Then screw it onto the base. For spools that are considerably wider at the edges than at the axle, mount the spacer ring against the base (second image in ‘post-printing’ section). There are three end pieces, most likely you'll need the 35 mm one, which allows spools with thickness between 55 and 80 mm to be mounted. The 15 mm tip is for spool thicknesses between 35 and 60 mm. There is also a 55 mm tip, which I added on request but which I have not tested, so I don't give any guarantees that it will work well. This requires the longer version of the screw and allows spools between 75 and 100 mm thick. To make swapping the end pieces easier, print and mount a screw and circlip for each of them. The screw is standard M12, should you want to replace the printed version with a metal one. If you have an older Creator (regular or Pro) with the round spool mounting holes, you can use this remixed model.