Improved Universal Spool Adapter for FDM printers

For the past few years, I've been using a set of spool adapters by jantzenday, which I later remixed to fit the Amazon Basic's spools. jantzenday's original model is at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2387254

My Amazon Basic's adapter is at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5242062

I finally got around to modeling my own version of a spool adapter. My adapter differs from jantzenday's adapters primarily by being a bit more comfortable to operate. Instead of each adapter consisting of a threaded screw with an end already on it, and nut, my model comes as a threaded shaft that will require 2 nuts, a nut on either end.

These spool adapters fit a 30mm spool holder, which I believe is the size tube that used to ship with the Creality CR-10. I don't have an actual CR-10, but the tube I use on all my printers is at: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4110024

All of my machines using the same tube allows me to swap spools between printers quickly and painlessly.

If you have any of the following printers and are looking for ideas for spool handling, I'll include links to the spool holders I use for each:

• CTC A-10S (CR-10 clone) https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5534334
• Anycubic I3 Mega https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4719992
• Tronxy XY-2 Pro https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4727666
• Geeetech I3 Pro C https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4973791
• Anet A8 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5533253
• Anet A8 Plus https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4891508

All of those models will still work with jantzenday's spool adapters or any other similar spool adapters that are made to fit a 30mm bar/arm/tube.

I think what makes this spool adapter set better is that the screw portion is just the screw, which takes longer to print than the nuts. Instead of maintaining 3 different sized adapters to cover all the spools floating around, one screw will work 3 different sized nuts.

For a complete spool adapter set, print the screw portion "Spool_Adapter_Shaft.stl" once, and each of the three nut models twice. The nuts are labeled in order of size, 1 being the smallest, which I use primarily for Amazon's Basic's spools, and 3 being the largest, which I use on big holed spools such as Sunlu and Jayo, and the medium sized nut, nut 2 fits the majority of generic spools I buy. For people who only have one FDM printer and don't swap spools frequently, one set of these adapters should cover your needs.

UPDATE 09242024:  I added the spool tube and nut I use with this adapter on most machines.  If you're installing this on an Ender 3, the 30mm spool tube will fit the mounting bracket for the stock spool holder.  You'll want to print two nuts, one for anchoring the tube to the bracket, and the other for holding the spool on the spool tube.

Print Settings

Printer Brand:

Anet

Printer: 

A8

Rafts:

No

Supports: 

No

Resolution:

.2

Infill: 

20%

Filament: Amazon Basic's PLA White

Notes:

All parts print as oriented in the STL's without the need for supports. The threaded tube may require a brim, depending on how well your prints stick to your bed, although I printed these on bare glass without creating a birds nest. Your mileage may vary...

Category: 3D Printer Accessories