Magnetic Quick Change Sample Spool (For Makerbox samples, etc)

thingiverse

I didn't actually remix techyg's sample spool, though I did use its dimensions as inspiration when I made this one in Tinkercad. Nevertheless, techyg had the idea, so I wanted to start by crediting his design. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqAkQ1S4iFc This is a quick-change sample spool designed for samples from Makerbox and similar companies. The outer dimensions of the spool are 160mm, the inner dimension is 90mm, and the hole through the center is 55mm. It makes use of four 10mm magnets in each spool half, for a total requirement of eight magnets. I used 10mm x 3mm, though 10mm x 2mm or 10mm x 1.5mm ought to work as well. I designed a few channels into this spool for clamping one end of the filament, and there are holes spaced around the outer circumference to secure the other hand. This is an asymmetric design, it's intended that you print one thick ("bottom") and one thin ("top") piece and use them together. I went with the asymmetric design as I didn't like the gap between halves falling into the middle of the spool. I think it's easier when you can place the filament completely on one half and then snap it together. A video is coming that will demonstrate. Please be careful with the magnets, especially around children. I used CA ("superglue") glue to glue the magnets into the pockets. Make sure to observe magnet polarity so that the two halves will stick together. When I made mine, I took a stack of magnets and carefully marked an "X" on one side of each magnet, then placed four magnets with the X facing away from the bottom spool half, and four magnets with the X facing into the top spool half. Again, please exercise caution with your magnets, and keep them out of the reach of children. I've included a couple of "bottom" halves, marked 14mm and 24mm. The 14mm ends up making a rather narrow spool that turned out to be a bit tipsy on my spool holder, I ended up using the 24mm version.