A1 Mini - Handle and spool holder complement

I ordered an A1 mini with the intention to print very flexible filament. I've been advised to do a direct feed of filament with the minimal possible drag from the spool holder. Further, this printer will follow me while travelling, so I needed to have a proper handle.

 

Handle

I designed a handle which includes a fixation for the spool holder slot. There is 2 M3 nuts inserted during the print using a pause to make a reliable fixation. The slot support is slightly tilted so the spool holder is horizontal when loaded with a full spool. The slot can be fixed with M3x12 or longer screws.

 

Spool Holder

As I also wanted to reduce the drag, I designed a complement for the spool holder allowing the use of ball bearings 6807RS (35x47x7). I also included printed bearings in the case you do not want to wait for the ball bearings (I ordered mine on Amazon, they are not yet delivered). They are fixed with two parts that are placed around the original spool holder, with a lock inserted in order to prevent any move of the parts. Then around the bearings I designed the real Spool Holder in two parts fixed with 4 M2 nuts and 4 M2x16 button head screws.

The spool holder is compatible with spools with center hole diameter 53mm and more, and a thickness of 82mm.

A cap is placed and positioned securely with a slot (the cap can go both ways in the slot as if you don't use the slot on the handle but another one, you may place it differently and the spool running direction would not be the same.

Refer to the pictures showing the assembly sequence.

 

Printing

Parts have been designed for print without supports. On the parts going around the orignal spool holder, I added some part which need to be cut to avoid any support : refer to the picture, and use an hobby knife to remove the red area in both part (it's quite fin and should be easy to cut).

IMPORTANT : As mentioned, plan for 2 M3 nuts before launching the print of the Handle as it requires the 2 M3 nuts to be inserted during the print when it will pause.

 

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