V Slot Frame Spool Holder

thingiverse

Yet another spool holder. Over the years I have encountered some intermittent trouble with consistent prints. With my spool mounted on the left of the printer, and as the hot end moves toward the right away from the spool; if the spool was not free, it would sometimes leave under-extrusions on the right side of my part. I developed a ball bearing spool holder using 6mm AirSoft BB's which can be found at https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4502641 This same principle is used here. Upon buying a new Artillery Sidewinder, I was disappointed like others with the provided spool roller system. I upgraded with Thingiverse rollers, but still was not satisfied. This Spool Holder unrolls the filament with extreme ease. I have a video clip showing just the weight of a paper clip unrolling the filament from the spool where it doesn't even budge on the rollers. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBHEiNo-ZBY&feature=youtu.be I utilize and re-mounted the Artillery run-out sensor provided with the printer to the Base Post. The spindle easily slides in from the front and ratchets in place with just enough pressure to not back off. A large button in the rear releases the ratchet with a feather light touch to remove the spool. The button uses a spring from any cheap retractable ball point pen you have laying around. I printed all my parts in ABS, yet was having some issues keeping the main Base Post stuck to the bed. Rather than reprint, I opted to make my post from wood in my shop in far less time than it would have taken to re-print. So the main post in these images is not a printed part and the stl file for the post has been technically unproven by me. You will find some built in supports on several of the spindle parts. There are 3 rows of small triangular shaped ribs where the ratchet teeth are that need to be cleaned out with a knife. The teeth should be open and continuous across the width of the spindle. There are a couple of other ribs that need to be cleaned out as well. Relying on random supports generated in my slicer program won't cut it. So the only file that should need any supports is the Main Base. The bearings require 22 Airsoft BB’s each. The rear bearing outer race slides onto the spindle receiver and bb’s load inside the square shaft and down thru the round hole. The SH Cap Base then is press fit in place to plug the hole. The front bearing outer race slides over the spindle front and bb’s are loaded in from front opening down the round hole. I included a 1pc Spindle Cap to plug the hole however I opted for the 2pc Spindle Cap A and Spindle Cap B sliding Cap B down the hole and press fitting Cap A in from the front. (You might want to add a touch of glue to the cap inside the spindle and the small round cap in center that plugs the hole where BB's are loaded. I have a pretty snug fit and no glue was necessary). Drop the ball point pen spring into small round hole inside oval shaft of Base Post. Slide the Button down the shaft. While depressing button fully, insert the Spindle Receiver from the front with bearing cap on the bottom flat surface. Screw on triangular nut. Slide in spindle assembly. Attach to frame by pressing post downward on frame rail engaging slot and use 2 T-nuts from rear. If you choose to make this, please post your make and send me a message if you encounter any issues with the base. I don't expect any as my wood base was made from the same geometry. (With over 100 downloads, I haven’t received any comments about the post.) Needed: 44 Airsoft 6mm BB’s 1 Spring from ball point pen 2 T-nuts (utilized from original spool holder brackets) 2 Screws (I believe also utilized from original spool holder brackets, possibly slightly longer)