Maeve's Plastic Filament Spool Holder

thingiverse

This OpenSCAD script will generate a 2 part fitting for making a large structure using wooden dowels and screws or bolts This can be used to create a simple printing plastic spool holder To Do: add option for connecting struts between top and bottom in side by side mode Changes from previous versions: v1.3 2011-12-05 allow user to make a simple pass through type version that can be used as a support for heavy loads of plastic allow user to choose if rounded or square corners allow user to choose if 4th screw hole included or not allow user to choose if it is a "top" type i.e. cylindrical holes for rods/dowels centre aligned along diagonal removed and fixed up the hardcoded translates and variables to make it more parametric v1.2 2011-11-14 reoriented and aligned shape Added option to choose individual hole countersinks added option to use mouse ears rounded corners of cube shape v1.1 2011-11-14 Mark modified Maeve's Code added countersink, counterbore and captive nut ability and variable to module call added ability to easily make mirrored version cleaned up some of the code added some comments moved (centred) the screw hole for the on end dowel Added radius fudge factor to increase diameter to reduce need for post processing v1.0 2011-11-10 First attempt This was the first thing Maeve ever designed/programmed, pretty much all her own work too. Go you! Instructions Download the most recent .SCAD file (spool-holder_supports_11-12-05_v1.3.scad) Select an appropriate rod/dowel to connect the printed fittings Measure the diameter of your rod in mm Modify variables in the .SCAD file as appropriate radius_stick=9;//radius of the wooden dowels angle_between=60;//the angle separating the recesses for adjacent dowels num_connectors=2;//how many dowels will connect around the preimeter of this piece bolt_diameter=3;//what size (diameter) bolt or screw will you use to connect the 2 parts wall_thickness=3;//thickness of plastic in the narrowest locations Set control booleans as desired is_pass_through is_top_vertex has_4th_hole has_round_corners Generate a new .STL for each of the top & bottom end and passthrough parts as desired Print, clean and check dowel/rod fits. If not file/drill out holes or adjust variables, regenerate .STL and reprint part as appropriate. Use glue/acetone/woodscrews/bolts/filament pieces etc. To attach the 2 parts of each vertex together. Insert short precut lengths of rod/dowel into appropriate holes and affix using screws/bolts to make 2 triangle shapes Thread filament spools over 1 of the 3 precut long rods/dowels and insert all 3 into appropriate "end-on" holes and affix using screws/bolts to make a triangular prism shape "Like a Toblerone" Attach to table etc. using pipe clamps etc. Have coffee For a triangular prism structure like that shown, make 2 normal units and 2 mirrored units as well as 1 normal top and 1 normal bottom there is a binary variable (inverted_shape) to help with this