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Two Spool Holders

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by KRGraphicsCG, Jul 17, 2017.

  1. KRGraphicsCG

    KRGraphicsCG Member

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    Hey, guys. So I got my RoboC2 back, and like last time, it came with 2 spool holders. I am going to assume the bigger one is for the 1KG roll of PLA... anyone knows about this? And the C2 is awesome... set up was painless.
     
  2. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

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    Yep yep... The big spool holder is for 1KG and the baby one is for the half-kilo sample roll.

    Honestly, I've retired my spool holders because I don't love the design.

    1. They seem to be a bit sticky to the Robo-branded spools which exhibits itself in one loud click per revolution while printing
    2. There are times when it will twist in the socket and threatens to jump out of the socket unless I push the entire rig back against the wall so that it can't
    3. The way it fits into the back wall is kind of a pain for 1kg spools, it's way too fussy

    At the moment, I'm using my rock tumbler's base (removing the belt), inserting a dowel through the middle of the spool and locking it down with a coat hanger.

    I'm printing now with a carbon fiber—based filament from Shaxon which sticks to itself badly and will then bind up on the spool, cross-wire itself and such, and then the entire spool would otherwise lift off the platform. The coat hanger nicely prevents that. The bearing assembly from the rock tumbler base is perfect for this.

    Now that it's spooling in a different orientation (always close to the printer) and much lower (better angle to that filament switch) then it minimizes the nonsense related to cross-catches which stop the filament in its tracks.

    IMG_0195.jpg
     
  3. KRGraphicsCG

    KRGraphicsCG Member

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    I was going to buy the Hatchbox spool holders, but with some rigid pvc, and some connectors, I can make my own :)
     
  4. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

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    Roll your own holder on this and if possible, change the orientation as I've done. The lower the spool, the better the angle.
     
  5. SHFman

    SHFman New Member

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    I make an Adjustable Filament Roll Holder that works for Robo, Inland and other brands of filament. Doesn't cost much 6.90 and ships free. www shf-us.com / PLA-Roll-Holder.html
     
  6. OutsourcedGuru

    OutsourcedGuru Active Member

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    You're on the right track, dude. I'd suggest that it needs a bigger footprint to be stable @ 1kg. So make the base wider, add internal shims perhaps to hold the spool.

    On a second note, some of the filaments bind to themselves and want to cross-thread. So it's necessary to add an axle in the middle and then to anchor that axle down. Otherwise, you end up with the extruder actually lifting the entire spool up until it hits the filament run-out switch and eventually then kill the job.

    IMG_0194.jpg
     

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