Prusa MK3 Spool Holder - Smooth Bearing Roller Edition

This is a remixed Spool Holder from the original Prusa Research version which now incorporates two 608 bearing for smoother feeding of filament into the extruder.

The original Prusa Research version has a fixed arm rod where the inner portion of the spool sits on. When filament is fed into the extruder and pulled from the spool, the inner spool body grinds on the fixed arm rod of the spool holder. The friction between the plastic spool and the holder itself introduces slight restriction when filament is fed. This is generally not much of an issue, but it can help with faster print speeds for filament types such as TPU, where the flexible nature of the filament can be impacted much more due to the restrictions. 

With this new smooth rolling bearing spool holder, filament can now be fed into the extruder without any restriction from the friction previously caused. The spool rolls with ease which means another element that may impact print quality can be eliminated.

Features:

• Curved spool barrel to guide the spool into the middle of the roller
• Removable end cap/stopper with printable threaded M8 bolt to secure (stl included). This is handy for spools with a smaller inner diameter to fit (minimum inner spool diameter is 53mm). Spools with larger than 58mm inner diameter can be loaded without removal of the end cap/stopper.
• Tested spool weight: 1kg

Required Hardware:

• 2 x Standard 608-2RS (or ZZ) Bearing
  • Outer Diameter: 22mm
  • Inner Diameter: 8mm
  • Width: 7mm

Print Tips:

• Layer Height: 0.2mm
• Nozzle: 0.4mm
• Suggest to print in PETG for longer term durability and heat resistance from the heat bed (especially inside warm enclosures).
• Bearing Rod Washer also provided and should be placed on the Bearing Rod between the Bearing and the outer edge of the rod (picture shown)
• The Spool Barrel Roller has a sacrificial layer for the bottom hole (printed standing upright). Suggest to print with supports for this which can be removed easily along with the sacrificial layer.
• Other print notes and suggestions (such as supports/brims) for specific parts are detailed along with the stl file in the download section