Multi-Spool / Multi-Size Spool Holder (Ver. 3) by notarat

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Here's a re-load of my previous spool holder which attaches to the openings for the handles on the side of the Flash Forge Creator X.
Original write-up at http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:321558 explains what parts you need to purchase BUT do NOT buy those same sized bearings! You need to buy 30mm outer diameter by 10mm inner diameter by 9mm width bearings instead
Improvements:
1 - New 30mm o.d. bearings integrate into each hub so each hub spins individually so using 1 spool on the new holder doesn't spin the other spools
2 - Revised the "hub" design for faster printing by printing only each end (leaving out a lot of plastic that is not needed, I adopted a "clam-shell" type design for each (now, 2 piece) hub. You simply put a bearing into each half, and put each half into opposite sides of the spool
3 - Spherical Bar End Caps have deeper receiver so there is less chance the bar would separate
4 - The Square Tubing "Seats", (see pictures 2&3) have received "Spacer Ridges" approximately 2.5mm thick so they hug the sides more solidly, resulting in far less side-to-side motion when you invariably play with your spools to watch them spin and spin and spin and spin. (I figure if I did it, you will too. Don't lie to yourself)
Remember the following! (or you're gonna have a bad day)
1 - This is not a complete kit. You still need to buy/steal/find/barter for a 4ft piece of .75" x .75" square Aluminum Tube stock (That's, "Aluminum", if you're of the English/Aussie persuasion) and a 4ft piece of appropriate diameter Aluminum round stock (see previous parenthetically-contained sentence if you're...geez...just say "Aluminum" like the rest of us already ;) )
2 - If you find you do have some side-to-side movement, shim the square bars with old rafts or foam
3 - In the vein of "Measure twice, print once, be sure you open the STL files in your favorite 3d design software (I recommend Tinkercad) and double-check your dimensions. I printed the 4 larger hubs a little smaller so I could adjust the "tightness" of their fit in the spools by wrapping a bit of tape around the hub.
4 - You'll have to sand the bearing seats on the hubs just a tad. I wanted a really tight fit for mine to prevent them from popping out.
Here's a video of the completed assembly, showing the spools being spun in opposite directions
http://youtu.be/RrJgKwk-_0A