Friday, December 30, 2011

Filament Guide

The feed motor on my Up! printer failed a while back, and I have been living with a duck tape repair. Catching my breath after Christmas festivities, I decided it was high time to make a proper fix.

The feed motor is not needed, as the nozzle feed is strong enough to pull the filament from the spool unassisted. After first trying to modify someone else's model in Sketchup, and getting frustrated with the lack of associativity, I used Alibre instead. I sure wish I could find a way to import an stl for free, so I could trace off of the existing model, but instead I grabbed my calipers and started measuring.

It's pretty simple. Slip the filament in through the end, no need to pull it out of the nozzle, and the guide keeps the filament in check as it comes off the spool. While lacking frills, it works and looks better than tape. Model available at Thingiverse.

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