Filament! I've got plenty, but I'm always looking for more, especially if there are new blends, new materials, etc! I really like testing out new filament and thinking on the possibilities that these materials could end up becoming or how to use them. Its one of the reasons I got the replicator 2x "experimental", which I regret, since that is so far from the truth. But that's for another show ;) Thankfully I have a delta printer as well! :D
With so much filament, 64 or so spools at last count, I was just stacking it on my shelves as wide as the shelf, two spools deep and two or three spools high. But this was a bit unwieldy and the spools had a tendency to slide, especially if I stacked them three high.
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| initial prototype no channel, testing out the strength with filament support added in (the white) |
I started using peg board to hang my spools of filament from and had everything arranged via ROYGBIV designation, but I noticed that even a few of my ABS spools were taking on moisture, so I'm was sure my PLA that was sitting out in the open too would be troublesome in the future. You can read about a solution I constructed to help "dry" out spools. While its a good solution when needed, I didn't want to have to do this every time so I needed to make sure they remained bagged with desiccant. When I rearranged the peg board I could only fit 2 spools on top of two peg board pegs. I needed a better solution.
I had an extra IKEA Lustifik shelf and when put side by side i could fit about 6-8 spools per shelf (depending on the thickness of the spools) which was a much better solution. You can also flip another Lustifik shelf on top of the initial shelf and attach via bolts however you're left with a "middle shelf" that's about an one inch high. Here is a pic of the starting of the "shelf tower". As you might guess the"plugs" that attach two units will create a small shelf, which I plan to use for sample filaments I receive from manufacturers or unspooled filament, like laywood, or laybrick.
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| you can click on any of these pics to make them full size! |
I designed the following files to fit between the two units and free up that space.
The rods extend between the two units when you flip the shelving units, the plugs are for the upside unit, where you remove the no scuff feet and insert those plugs so that you can join another unit together.
As you can see I print out 8 "halves" and then use the adhesive below, but you can straight acetone to "weld" the two halves together as well. The larger holes are there to save on material, the smaller holes are there, if you want, to use as an additional method to strengthen the object by using 1.75mm filament which you put adhesive on and then slide into the holes which then are welded/bonded to the plug (as can be seen in the pic on the right) or strut. After gluing I decided the extra filament welds weren't needed, those struts and plugs are plenty strong!
The final feature is a channel going down the center to allow you to insert a 2in bolt/machine screw along with a nylon hex nut that fits in the 2nd hole from each side that goes through the tubing on the shelf unit. With a bit of screwing the hexnut should retract and come to rest between the two circular holes with in the strut and provide extra added strength. Oh and I got my adhesive at Tap Plastics here in San Jose, CA.
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Hope you enjoyed this post and thanks for stopping by!
