This week’s selection is the Filament umspulen by Thingiverse contributor Georg Wittschier
This design seems pretty obvious, but it’s actually an incredibly useful tool for any FFF 3D printer operator. The idea here I to enable transfer of a filament from one spool to another.
Why do this? Wittschier explained that it is sometimes required to move filament to differently-sized spools so that they can fit into certain machines. Unfortunately, some 3D printer manufacturers insist on requiring uniquely-sized spools for their equipment. This results in problems for those with multiple machine types: you can’t use all your filament on all your machines.
The answer is to move the filament to the right-sized spool, and this 3D printable device can help you do that efficiently.
I’ve done this myself, but manually. Usually it takes an assistant to hold one spool while you spin another to coil up the filament. That’s inefficient, although it does provide an opportunity for social interaction with the assistant.
This device can be operated by a single person, as it includes some holes to bolt the device to a sturdy table. Then the operator merely cranks the handle and the filament is quickly moved.
This device is also useful in situations where a loose coil of filament is present that requires transfer to a spool. That’s another situation where I’ve required this type of device. Typically the original spool breaks somehow, and you’re left with a loose coil of filament that will quickly tangle unless you spool it properly.
There are multiple reasons to like this design, and make practical use of it.
There are eleven parts to this design, which are easily printed and assembled.
If you have loose filament lying around, you might want to give this design a try.
