Mendel Prusa filament spool

thingiverse

Useful add-on to guide your filament into the extruder from either a reel or even works with a roll on the floor. Clamps to the top two rails and assemble much like the Mendel Prusa with 8mm threaded rods, washers and nuts. The top guide spool spins freely and slides along the rail to suit the printer head. I use this with a triangular frame reel stand behind the printer with three reels of PLA on it and it feeds really well from full or emptry drums. In the photos attached you can see I am feeding PLA from a pile on the floor below the printer. Instructions The rod tops are printed with 7mm holes so clean them out with a 7mm drill then tap them to M8 (or substitue the equivalent old-world imperial thread). The spool ends are printed at 8mm but will probably need a drill run through them. Other than that it's pretty much as it looks in the photos. The top reel pushes together without the need for glue or machine screws. I designed it with holes for 3mm machine screws but they are not needed as it is a very snug fit. The top bar clamp has holes for 3mm machine screws and I have used them to clamp it to the top bars. It may work without them as the vertical rods also secure the bottom clamp but I haven't tried it. 19 September - Redesigned the top rod clamps to click into place without bolts or screws. They leave room at the back for you wiring bundle too :)