The Spool Cap

When I learned how to make things to 3D print, this was top of the list! Anyone that has a Brother embroidery machine can probably relate to this frustration of only having one tiny, neutral coloured version of this spool cap provided with their machine. It is inevitable you will drop it and end up crawling around on the floor to find it like a fool.. but no more! Now you can make your own in colours that won't blend in with your flooring AND make as many as you want for extras!

This is a replacement for the “king spool cap” and it works great to hold common embroidery thread spools in place while in use (slides inside the spool as opposed to the larger flat disc meant to sit outside standard thread spools). I have only used “New Brothread” brand spools from Amazon on a Brother machine- but I believe other machines and thread brands would also work if you have something that looks similar in your collection. If you look at the pictures, my design is a bit taller and not an exact knock off but it works fine. It was not intentional to make it different for any benefit, it was a quick design that happened to work perfectly so I left it. The cap is 17mm tall and about 11 mm wide. The hole is approximately 5mm. Since it is so small, the 0.2 nozzle obviously has benefits to the appearance, quality and fit of the print but it is not required for a useable item. It is very printable with a 0.4 nozzle but I believe I have tried the 0.6 and it was not so nice (not surprising). I have also tried Bambu Silk and Metal filaments and they have proven to be too brittle (also not surprising). My quick survival test for them is to give the tip with the cutouts a solid pinch and if it doesn't break you are good. I recently tried ABS and it failed so I would recommend PETG or PLA.

There are not really any special printing instructions and I have had success with a variety of layer heights (for both nozzles) and an outer brim is optional if you are having adhesion issues. No supports are needed.

Happy printing and even happier sewing once you get a couple of these made!