Tronxy X3a Top bar spool mount system

thingiverse

I recently made and fitted the Megreth top extrusion bar end protector caps. At that time I had my standard Tronxy spool stand crudely attached to my Tronxy frame top bar with cable ties (see pic). So I decided to use the end caps as a basis to create my new spool support arrangement shown here. (Thanks to Megreth!) The original end caps fit the 2020 alloy extrusions incredibly well. In fact so snug that the screws and T nuts really are optional. There are 3 parts: The Top bar left side spool support. The top right corner extrusion cap and combined right spool support. The central (optional) filament guide arm (Helps to prevent spool over spinning causing filament to spill over sides of spool resulting in a tangle) Well actually, there are 4 components. My central spool hub as shown in the pictures is available here..... https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3263087 There may even be 5 parts to make! (assuming you want to also use one of the excellent original Megreth design matching corner caps over on the top left extrusion bar end). The whole thing works great and completely gets the spool neatly and securly up and out of the way. Much more desk space now. Since first publishing this, a few days ago, I made 2 extra top bar left side supports along with 2 more spool hubs and filament guides. Now I can make full use of the entire top bar length by putting up to 3 spools up there at once! (See latest pictures added). This is very convenient for quickly changing filament colours during a print run. Especially good if you need to pause a print for a quick colour change on a piece. No need to fiddle around changing the actual spools, just unload and reload the filament into the extruder then resume the print in seconds. Almost as good as having a dual extruder machine! Just a little addendum.... It was noticed by a maker in the comments on the original Megreth corner cap object that the maximum Z height movement is restricted very slightly by adding the top corner caps. This characteristic is carried forward to this project also. To prevent any possible future problems, I have adjusted my workspace vertical maximum limit from the original 300mm maximum limit to 285mm. I don't consider this a problem as I never needed to make anything so very tall. In the unlikely event I ever did need to, I could just remove the top corner parts temporarily and revert to the original tronxy spool desk stand (just for that one extra tall object job). I don't consider this 15mm height restriction an issue, but I thought for completeness, I should still mention it here. If preferred, this slight vertical size limitation could be avoided by not using the top corner pieces at all. Instead just make two of the 'Top bar left side spool supports' and the filament guide arm. Reverse the right spool support orientation so as to face into the reel. This whole assembly could then be positioned anywhere along the top bar thus completely resolving the Z gantry slight 15mm height restriction. I prefer to sacrifice the measly 15mm and stick with the nice looking corner protective pieces. Enjoy!