Flexible Top Mounted Spool Holder For Ender 3 by makertm

Last crawled date: 3 years, 4 months ago

I use a mix of normal 1kg spools and larger 30cm diameter 2kg spools. To have easy access to the spool I wanted a top-mounted design that could easily lift off even the large spool without having to move the printer.
This design support up to 110mm wide spools and as narrow as 5cm.
I modified the original design to support the 30cm spool by adding more edge to one side as a 30cm spool would roll off the sides of the original design. Then widened the support to allow for the larger spool width.
While I was at it I also added holes securing the mount to the printer, holes to secure the guide rails to the support mount, and a groove to allow it to still slide to fit various widths of spools.
The design is updated to use two spacers for the bearings instead of the cylinder in the original design. To avoid the bearings rubbing against the side of the guide rails. The rails are widened slightly to fit these in.
The spacer grabbed from thing 3052488 as I was also remixing that part at the same time. I will add source when I figure out how to add more than one.
Print two each of profile holder and spool holder, plus 8 spacers.
You will also need 4x 608 bearings and minimum 4x hex nuts and bolts (3x20 will do, but they can also be longer if that's what you have).
To secure the holder to the profile you need 4 bolts and hex nuts (3x15 look best, but can be longer). And another set of hex nuts and bolts for securing the profile to the top bar of the printer. I made the hex holes on the inside of the profile so that the nut would allow the bolt to push up against the frame. This is optional as it is pretty snug as it is. I made mirrored holes on both sides, but only installed the ones on the front myself.
The holder can be mounted anywhere along the top of the printer bar. I put mine in the centre as that is the most balanced for the 30cm spool. Same position works with a more standard sized 1kg spool by simply moving the rails to match the width.
To feed the filament to the bowden extruder on the Ender 3 I created a roller guide to mount on the corner and guide the filament at the right angle to the extruder.https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4654313
The position at the center of the top bar requires a straight guide to ensure the filament is not dragging on the side of the spool when it is running low.