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Filament Winder

Discussion in 'General 3D printer talk' started by 66tbird, Jun 5, 2013.

  1. 66tbird

    66tbird Moderator Staff Member

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    One of my biggest pet peeves in the 3D printing hobby is a poorly wound roll of filament. In the form of crossovers, bad kinks, noncontinuousness( :questions: ) and just plain not on a roll at all. I just did a deal with a guy who's getting out and almost every roll sprung and crossed during shipping. Sure I could sit around and babysit a temperamental roll or hand feed but I'd rather not. I just print to much big stuff and most of it is at night. Btw, all it took was one Craigslist ad offering prototyping services and I'm busy enough.

    I finally got around to doing my usual 'use what I have' approach to do a proof of concept and it works well. One issue though. It's that it's way overpowered. I thought of IflyO.S. the first startup :lol: It's a 18V cheap power drill motor running on 12V and geared down to 10:1 or so. 127/13 to be exact. I should make a gear box and drop it another 10:1

    The setup is basic for us with 12v going into a 20A brushed ESC and its (the esc's) three wire connector going to a cheap servo tester, and of course the esc output to the motor.

    What has been a challenge for everyone else is printing the big 5.5'' gear warp free in ABS. The rest of the frame sizing and material is personal preference for your needs material availability.

    I chose the Makerbot roll as a receiver roll for a couple reasons. One is that they are molded in a way that allows for an adapter. Another is their size, and that helps in keeping the filament not so tightly sprung. Easier to travel to and load into the extruder. Plus I've got a bunch of MBI rolls.

    Another interesting item I incorporated is an over-center locking retainer ring to hold the roll firmly against the gear for engagement. Attached files [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG] [​IMG]
     
  2. KX-5

    KX-5 Member

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    3D printing is on my "next winter's" project list and don't know anything about it yet. Your set up looks great. Could you expand a little more on what this setup accomplishes?
     
  3. 66tbird

    66tbird Moderator Staff Member

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    This setup helps roll filament into a spool quickly and evenly. Ever had an open reel fishing pole do the rats nest thing? Or a wire feed welder sprang loose? Well the plastic line kind of does that. Then it loops over itself and locks down on itself while being used. When that happens the print fails. This winder can spool up a roll nice and even and much faster than by hand. Also some types of lines don't come on a spool, so this makes short work of that.

    Everything in red was 3D printed.
     
  4. 3DMON

    3DMON Moderator Staff Member

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    Cool! :good:
     

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