KID'nR - Keep It Dry ... and Rolling! (Silica Gel Box)

You like your filament dry ☂. And yes, there are some silica gel boxes out there already. But most of them 

• are a bit too generic

• are lacking features like a hollow core …

• … or a bearing mount option to work as a filament roller. 😍

• And last but not least, some are missing the final touch for a cool look and feel (and we all know that this is what really counts). 😎

Here it is, the KID'nR, my approach to rule the spools!
…for Spools with an inner core diameter of 51-56mm

It's not meant to be generic or to print fast, but it's designed to be sturdy and fit the spool perfectly, based on a fully parametric design, with all the bells and whistles like accent-color spacers and automatically generated text labels. Get the perfect fit for your spool. 

Related Models

Box Variants and Features

It might look a tiny bit confusing at the very beginning, as you have different options to choose from. But don't worry, you will get it.

1. Three Canister Types

Standard : Not much to say, fill it with Silica Gel and your are good to print.

Center Core : A bit more air circulation around the silica gel; some filament spools heavily obstructs the airflow on the outer surface of the canister and the core helps to get the required airflow. And it still holds quite a lot of silica gel.

Roller:  That is why I actually designed this model: Using two MR1482Z bearings (the ones that ship with the PolyDryer), it will give you a perfect, smooth, low resistance rolling experience of your filament spool in your dry box while providing storage capacity for the silica gel. And all you need is a simple mount for an 8mmm axle, that keep the spool in place. Check out the PolyRoller (coming soon) which does exactly this for the PolyDryer from PolyMaker. Be warned: The spool will roll not only smooth  but almost friction free! Check the PolyRoller's adjustable break to control the resistance to your liking.

2. Top and Bottom Caps and Spacer Options

So you have chosen the canister type, let's look at the top / bottom options:

Standard Cap (for the top) and Lock (for the bottom):  It comes with flanges and combined with cool looking spacers that you want to print in an accent color.  You can use it with some color code in mind (Orange for Prusament, Teal for Polymaker, Silver for Filamentum… you got it), so you can easily see what is loaded… and it helps to grab the correct KIDnR version when loading a new spool.

Slim: These come without the flanges for a minimal foot-print, not adding any mm to the diameter of the canister. It's a bit more tricky open them if you need to, but it's doable. And you asked for a slim version, so here it is, e.g. to use it inside a vacuum bag. The bottom part is optional, but it protect the thread and it just looks cleaner.

Grippy: Also no flanges, but this time easy to handle. but will add a bit to the outer diameter. A good stand-alone solution if you do not want to put it inside a spool.

3. Hygrometer Caps

Finally, the Hygrometer Cap : The special one 🥷 which adds a hygrometer to your box. Available in all variants (Standard, Slim and Grippy) and always for the Standard Canister (!).

The Little Details

All the canisters, caps, lock rings are labeled, with diameter, height and filament name, so you will be able to find the correct one if there are many of them flying around in your space.

• Diameter: The outer diameter that should match the inner core diameter of your spool.

• Height: The height of the canister including cap and spacers,  i.e. “edge to edge” (and not the height of your spool!) This value can be important if you use the roller variant in a dry box and need to keep the spool precisely in place. Check the PolyRoller and you know what I mean.

Files, Parts, Printing and Assembly

1.  File Structure

For a precise fit there is a specific version for each spool organized in folders. Go to this folder in the files section and you will find all the files you need (and check above what canister type, cap, lock ring, bottom and spacers you want.

2. Parts

• Hygrometer: The “standard” 45mm one (Amazon)

• Bearings: MR148ZZ bearings (shipped with PolyDryer) (Amazon)

3. Print Settings

• Material: PLA does work, PETG is preferable, but if you put it inside a heated dry box go with ABS, ASA or similar

• Perimeters: 5

• Infill: 40%

• Support:  in general No
  
  Only for the roller version: You maybe want to support just the area where the MR1482Z bearing sits. In all my prints it worked perfectly without , but it depends on your printer and settings if it might be preferable to put a tiny bit of support to this area.

Make sure to print some parts in accent color as you like, i.e. the spacers and the grippy parts.

4. Assembly

• For the roller version, carefully press in the MR1482Z bearings in the Canister and the cap

• Clip in the Spacers

• Fill it with Silica Gel

• Close the canister with a Cap,

• … put the canister into the filament spool 

• … and attach the Lock Ring to keep things in place 

Supported Spools 

Here is the list of spools currently supported / tested, with some comments if required:

CAD Files and Customization

The model is made with Fusion 360 and it's a parametric design. So you can easily create all the files for your specific spool by just entering the respective values to the parameters in the “Favorites” section:

• spoolCoreDiameter: The inner core diameter of the spool. It must be within the range of 51-55mm

• spoolHeight: The height of the spool at the center core.

• spacerHeight: The thickness added by the spacer; do not go below 1mm

• cannisterLabel: (Yes, I am aware of the spelling error, and maybe I will fix it in the next iteration) The text label on the canister; the value is taken from the “Comments” field!

For Fusion 360 to be able to modify the model, you will need to install the following:

• Google Font: Play

• Thread Definitions: Fusion-360-FDM-threads

• Fusion 360 Plugin to manage the FDM treads: ThreadKeeper

• Fusion 360 Plugin to allow for parametric text values: ParametricText

Before you start:

The ParametricText plugin in such quite complex models has a big downside: It will take forever for Fusion 360 to update all the bodies after you changed any of the parameters. If you change them, grab a coffee and let Fusion do its job, it will be unresponsive, eventually show a black window, but it will do everything just fine.
When you work on the model itself the plugin should not get into your way (as long as you do not change the parameters). If it does, you can disable the plugin and enable it again when you are done with your changes.

Some hints:

• If you open the Fusion 360 file, all bodies are oriented for 3D printing. Check the timeline and you will find the elements to activate / deactivate to have everything arranged correctly.

• You can export all bodies at once by selecting the root component for export; select one body per file.

• … and don't forget: Have fun 😎

A final remark:

If you are improving the model: Post a Remix! … and I am always happy when I see this 😍. That's why I share my CAD files.
But if you are only changing the parameters to fit a specific spool, drop me a message and I would like to add it here. Not only does it help me, but it also helps users find the right model.

Attribution

Many thanks to @kennyd1gital who made the Filament Spool Desiccant Canister and provided the me the Fusion 360 file, and of course to @Malolo and @gdrag for the initial designs remixed by kennyd1gital. This made it a really quick start and easy to extent the model with additional features and some optimizations without the need to optimize the threads, spacing, and the canister's design.