Alternate Prusa XL Spool Roller

I wanted to replace the static XL Spool Holders with a holder that incorporates some bearings.  It's useful for both holding a spool directly, or when feeding filament directly from my filament dryer.

The design uses two 608 bearings that simply pop onto the ends of the shaft which then lays in the bearing cradles in the holder.  The holders are mounted onto the side rail using the M4 x 12 screws from the existing XL spool holders (injection moulded spool holders).

I've included the STEP files if anyone wants to remix the design.  If you have an onshape account, you can access the document and make a copy for yourself at:

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/c809b33f57c0edb941b903ef/w/78ea155e543e8882aa5e83c1/e/979d69da7138939a5640f241

If you want to alter the length of the shaft for different width spools, I've used a variable called #ShaftLength that you can alter and the design will update.  With that in mind, shaft lengths of ≈105 mm or more will make tightening the mounting screw difficult with the Allen key that's supplied with the XL.

Printing:

• PETG or PLA or anything really - just steer clear of TPU/flexibles  ;-)
• 3 or 4 perimeters
• 20 or 25% Cubic infill
• Print the Holder horizontally with the bearing cradles to the top
• Print the shaft vertically with support coming from the bed only (as per the pictures)

Update 9th October 2024:

I found a slight amount of ‘play’ with my spool rollers when mounted on my XL.  I figured the locating ‘spine’ was bearing up against the captive nut in the XL frame and not allowing ‘full and proper’ contact between the holder and the XL frame.  I've added a v2 version of the holder (stl and step files) such that the locating spine has been removed where the captive nut is located.  This allows the holder to fully bear up against the XL frame when installed and get rid of the small ‘play’ that may be present.

Update 6th November 2024:

@bobby reported his Prusa XL uses M5x85 mounting screws rather than the M4x12 supplied with my machine.  He suggests that maybe there has been a change in the hardware that comes with the XL.  To address the (older/initial?) XL owners that may have M5x85 spool mounting hardware, I've included an updated version of the holder (both STEP and STL files) to suit M5x85 screws.  Thanks for the heads-up @bobby !!