set of reinforced cable spools on a diet by curious_pl

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

This is a set of cable spools with extra cuts to save plastic plus extra reinforcements (made possible thanks to 'modifier' option in slic3r)
these spools do not pop open easily!
I've found out weakest spots are at cable openings (breaking both when un-winding and with assembly/disassembly) so i've created modifiers for slic3r exactly for places which broke most often. no broken spool since!
extra cuts are parametric, see scad files. not entirely elegant solution but works.
files include :
3.5m 6mm thick cable. very stiff spool, ~3-4m of filament needed for print.
It's very good for cables like power cords, monitor cables, short network cables (or their 'ends') and other cables which are causing trouble by being too thick or too stiff.
1.5m 5mm thick cable spool 10.5g, ~1.2m of filament needed
good for 2x1.5mm power cords (like for desk lamps)
thinner cables work even better with this spool.
with 0.7 extrusion width, single perimeter , single bottom and 3 top layers i've managed to print spools of this type weighting just 10.5g!
1.5m 4mm thick cable spool. economy winner so far - 8.5g , ~1m of filament needed
Very good for everything else, from usb cords to cellphone cables.
for very thin and delicate cables - after print put some thicker cable first. wind/unwind quickly several times. if there is still too much force needed - apply drop of acetone into opening slot and quickly wind/unwind . repeat if needed. if drag is ok , quickly dissasemble and leave for dozen of minutes to let acetone evaporate.
alternatively add some non-oil based lube like acrylic gel.
best slicing parameters so far with 0.24 layer height:
0.5internal perimeter width, 0.7 external perimeter width ,minimum one perimeter, 0% infill . it produces very sturdy part.
Reinforce inlays should get at least 0.7 mm perimeter and 0.7 external perimeter width, minimum 3 perimeters, i also print them at much slower speed - see the pic again.
edit : another incarnation of sturdy 3.5m spool with very small hub added. print with 2 perimeters and 3 perimeters in modifier zones (reinforce files)
it is named to fit 4mm wire due to small hub but will accept up to 6mm wire if it's flex enough. it's designed for stuff like short power cords, long usb cables, etc. it uses marginally less plastic than previous version (about 0.5m) and it's sturdier (can be print with two perimeters ) at same time.
edit : 8m spool added. To print it you need to insert object instead of modifier in the settings menu. There is a file with reinforcements booleand subtracted in blender provided . there is also vanilla file if you wish to print without reinforcements (i.e. not using slic3r) .