Filament Spools
Posted: Tue May 13, 2014 1:50 pm
For empty spools I bought some of these:
http://www.filabot.com/collections/fron ... ment-spool
I realized by looking at them and seeing the stiffness of the filament that these would not work well for holding filament. The main issue is the hub size is too small. These spools are made for wire not filament. So I figured I could fix them with this:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Carlon-3-in- ... word=e940l
I actually bought these couplers at Lowes for $1.50 US, but could not find them on their website. The part number is E940L. I used a general purpose ABS/PVC cement so that I could glue these together. I don't know what the spool is made of, but I assumed some sort of ABS. It is staying together very strongly.
I cut the original spool in half and carefully glued it together keeping everything centered. It turned out like this:
Then I thought I could use these for future spools:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_211809-84240-PN ... facetInfo=
I have not tried the bucket lid solution, but the lids are $1.28 each. So it is a tossup between buying and modifying a spool or getting the lid at the hardware store. However at the hardware store there is no waiting for shipment or shipping costs other than travel to the store. You also would have to cut the lid.
So, this is my "custom" spool. Please post any of your own custom spool solutions or ideas.
I tried finding a thread just on spools but could not find one. So I decided to start one.
http://www.filabot.com/collections/fron ... ment-spool
I realized by looking at them and seeing the stiffness of the filament that these would not work well for holding filament. The main issue is the hub size is too small. These spools are made for wire not filament. So I figured I could fix them with this:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Carlon-3-in- ... word=e940l
I actually bought these couplers at Lowes for $1.50 US, but could not find them on their website. The part number is E940L. I used a general purpose ABS/PVC cement so that I could glue these together. I don't know what the spool is made of, but I assumed some sort of ABS. It is staying together very strongly.
I cut the original spool in half and carefully glued it together keeping everything centered. It turned out like this:
http://www.lowes.com/pd_211809-84240-PN ... facetInfo=
I have not tried the bucket lid solution, but the lids are $1.28 each. So it is a tossup between buying and modifying a spool or getting the lid at the hardware store. However at the hardware store there is no waiting for shipment or shipping costs other than travel to the store. You also would have to cut the lid.
So, this is my "custom" spool. Please post any of your own custom spool solutions or ideas.
I tried finding a thread just on spools but could not find one. So I decided to start one.
