In order to feed the filament into the extruder you will need a spool holder system that gives the least possible friction, otherwise it can influence the quality of your prints.
Thanks to our Z-axis supports that holds the stepper motors for our bowden extruders in place, we can also mount here a filament spool holder. In the matter of fact, because we have dual extrusion, we can mount 2 holders.
We will be basing the filament holder on this project from Tech2C. Because we are using M10 threaded ends as our Z-axis support, we will need to print the Spool_Support_Zaxis_10mm.stl part. It is the part that will connect the support Z-axis with the actual axis of the spool holder. You will also need to print two pieces of the Compact_Spool_Holder.stl part. This is a customisable part, that is dependent on the inner diameter of your filament spool. In my case I did not need to make any adjustments and the part provided by default fitted perfectly.
Besides the printed parts (for one spool holder) you will need:
- M8 x 130 mm threaded end
- 2x M10 nuts with washers
- 5x M8 nuts with washers
- 2x 608ZZ bearings
First assemble the compact spool holder part. Just push the 608 bearing inside the mounting hole.
Next assemble the M8 threaded end like in the picture below. Notice that there are 2 nuts and washers holding the 608 bearing in place.
And attach it to the M10 threaded end Z-axis support bar with 2x M10 nuts with washers.
To finish it up place the spool on the M8 threaded end and attach the other part of the spool holder.
After you are done, it will look something like this.
The filament should exit on the bottom of the spool holder. This is because we are going to use a filament guide so the filament will enter the bowden stepper motor with even less friction. You will need to replace the existing screw with M3x 16 mm to attach it.
The other side of the Z-axis the filament holder will need another part, that is a bit longer. This is because of the X-axis stepper motor is in the way. I have created this part and uploaded it on the Thingiverse website as Longer Spool Support Z-axis 10mm project.
Also the filament guide needs to be inverted on this side. I have also did this and it is available for download on the Thingiverse website under Mirrored filament guide project name.
