Image above: 3D Printer Filament Roller Guide mounted above stepper motor (Click on image for larger view.
Image above: 3d view of the Filament Roller Guide without the bearing and wheel. (Click on image for larger view.
Now some might say that the above project has nothing to do with amateur radio. Wrong! 3D Printers is today part and parcel of your amateur radio equipment in the shack. As my 3D printer is an entry level printer I decided to upgrade/add certain 3d printed parts to the printer to enhance its futures. I needed a filament guide to ensure better feeding to the printer head. This filament solved one of my issues. This filament guide uses a 608zz bearing and its geometry prevent the filament from hopping out of the bearing wheel. By far the best design I have come across.
The printing went well but I needed one 608zz bearing for the wheel. Well there is three options:
- Buy the bearings new
- Find an old skate board wheels and remove the bearings
- Find an old Fidget Spinner and remove the bearings
I had no skate board or fidget spinners I could butcher. Well buying new bearings was an option but why fork out extra dollars if I can source the bearings elsewhere. Your local Chinese shop is the answer. I visited my nearest shop and picked up a spinner for R20.00. Some were marked down as low as R10.00 but they had some rust on them and did not run smoothly. I removed the four 608zz bearings from the spinner. I used one bearing for the Filament Roller Guide. The other bearings will be used in a Filament Holder Spool Project. More on this in a future posting. Cheap solution and I will surely pick up some more Fidget Spinners for future 3D printer projects. Note this project will only work on a Biqu B1 3d Printer. Thanks to EddieCoast for making this project available on Thingiverse.
Image above: Butchered Fidget Spinner to salvage the bearings (Click on image for larger view.)
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