Replicator+ Secondary Filament Feed by muzz64

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

This Spool Holder is made specifically for the MakerBot Replicator+. It installs in a matter of seconds by hanging on the rear of the machine (refer images) and has a tab to hold it in position so it can't slide across the back of the machine during printing.
Having a second spool installed while printing makes mid-print color changes much quicker and easier... because the second color spool is already loaded. Just pause your Rep+, unload the filament, reload filament feeding from the alternative spool / system and resume. No more opening up the draw and physically changing spools mid-print to create multi-colour prints.
This spool holder has been designed to allow alternative 3rd Party spools of different sizes to be fitted / used. It will accept spools of up to 250mm diameter, 57mm wide and with a core size of greater than 52mm. This will work with many but not all brands. A second size has been added to accommodate wider spools. This is the 'LONG' version which will take spools up to 70mm wide.
Note: MakerBot genuine filament is manufactured to a very high standard so provides reliable printing. Take care if using 3rd party filament as low quality filament can cause print reliability and quality issues as well as damage your extruder.
A Guide Tube Link file is also provided. This attaches to both guide tubes to ensure the secondary guide tube running from the rear of the machine follows a similar path to the extruder as the original guide tube.
The Spool Holder surface is ribbed to reduce friction so the spool will rotate smoothly and easily with minimal drag.
This system is easy to print, install and use. The only things to be specially aware of are:
(1) The drawer will not slide up when the secondary / rear Spool Holder is installed. If you want to change the spool in the drawer just life the rear spool holder off its mounting position and sit it behind the machine in a position that keeps the still connected guide tube clear of the drawer. No problem to do this... you just need to get the rear holder away from the drawer.
(2) Make sure the Guide Tube not in use is positioned around the side of the machine and away from all moving parts so it cannot interfere during printing... but remains quickly accessible for filament color changes.
This is a simple solution that makes using a Replicator+ in a creative way easier plus opens up alternative filament colors and types.
Please refer to the print settings and images for additional information.
Note: If you like this check out the rest of my practical and fun designs.