[DIY] 3kg Spool Holder - Tangled Filament

After getting a couple of 3kg spools of PLA filament, I had to design a spool holder for use with a Bambu P1S 3D printer.

Spool dimensions: 52mm axle diameter, ~300mm (11.8") outer diameter, ~100mm (4") width.

For anybody looking at similar spools, the Fusion 360 CAD model, STEP and 3MF files are all on Github

Happy mega prints to all !

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CAD Model

 

Print 

Designed to fit on a 250mm large plate, for the box's longest dimension. 240mm in height.

Total amount of filament: ~400 grams.

Settings:

• PLA, 0.4mm nozzle, 29mm³/s, 200mm/s wall, 300mm/s inner+infill, infill combination, no support
• Box: 0.28mm layer height, 2 walls / top / bottom, 20% adaptive cubic infill
• Tubing holder: 0.2 height, 3 walls to resist cracking in case the filament gets tangled (huge pulling force from the extruder), 2 top / bottom, 25% adapt.cubic. All speeds capped @ 100mm/s to avoid curling-up issues on overhang corners (happens on P1S w all my PLA / ABS filaments, independently from overhang parameters)
• Axle: 0.28 height, 3 walls to increase shear strength and reliably support the heavy spool, 2 top / bottom, 15% adapt.cubic

Plate:

Once printed, remove the base support from the axle:

The parts were actually printed from a 3kg spool, using a quickly-put-together wood prototype and a 3D printed axle. It helped validate the concept and the dimensions:

Assembly

Just slide the Tubing Holder's dovetails into the Box's top rails. Should be a tight fit but, if loose, a dab of CA glue will fix that.

Install the PC4-M10 pneumatic fitting and some length of regular PTFE tubing going to the printer.

Do not use the spool holder without the fitting and tubing in place as, in case of a tangled spool, the extruder will pull hard enough to drag the spool / holder across the desk and up to the printer's filament intake. Happened to me once in ~1000 hours of printing, with a Bambu Lab spool that had a tangle at the 200-grams-left mark.

The fitting and the tubing ensure that the pulling force exists only between the fitting and the spool, thus preventing cascading consequences if the filament gets stuck around the spool.

Assembly completed, the rotation is very smooth with little friction despite the spool's weight:

 

 

3kg Spools

Dimensions:

 

Blatant shout-out to Tangled who invested in tools and a biz model to make high quality black PLA at $10/kg in the US:

 

Note: unlike the Bambu Lab Basic PLA that's set to a 220°C nozzle temp to print at 29mm³/s and 300mm/s with an E3D High-Flow Obxidian hotend on my P1S, the Tangled PLA requires a much higher ~255°C temp. Supposedly because it is made of a more pure, virgin PLA material. I also raised the bed temp from 55°C to 60°C, but no idea if that helps or not.

Tangled's blog post on temps here: www.tangledfilament.com/post/raise-your-temp-and-or-slow-your-speed-how-to-print-pla

So far, printed functional parts look identical to BL PLA's, but I haven't tested overhangs and bridges extensively yet. The only drawback so far is the lack of a No-Spool Refill ordering option or way to ship the empty spools back to Tangled for reuse.

Also, the roasted-almond smell when printing is stronger than with Bambu's Basic PLA, probably because of the higher nozzle temp. So make sure to ventilate the room or filter the fumes as even PLA emits toxic compounds

No idea if the Tangled spool's dimensions will vary over time, or if spools from other suppliers are the same size. So make sure to double check.

Time to crank out parts like daily baguettes out of a bakery !