Free 3D model

Filament Spool Holder

A spool holder that works with every spool you own. The spool lies on its two rims on a pair of long rollers that turn on standard 608 skate bearings, so the hole in the middle doesn't matter: 250 g minis, 1 kg plastic or cardboard spools and 3 kg spools all roll freely, from Ø100 to Ø300 mm and up to 110 mm wide. Side walls keep the spool from walking off, and a guide arm leads the filament off the bottom of the spool towards your printer, with a pocket for a PTFE tube. No screws, no glue, no supports.

  • 8printed parts
  • 16 × 23 × 9 cmassembled (L × W × H)
  • ≈ 0.2 kgfilament in total
  • 176 × 156 mmbed size needed for the base; it is 50 mm tall
Download all files ZIP · 0.2 MB

Free for personal use under CC BY-NC 4.0: print it, remix it and share it with credit to Shapekit. Please don't sell the files or the prints.

Take it apart in 3D · Parts · How to build it

In 3D

Turn it, take it apart

Every part as you print it. Pick colours to see what your filament will look like.

The 3D model (1.0 MB) loads when you get here.

Preview colours

Stand
Rollers and guide
Axle pegs

Drag to rotate · scroll or pinch to zoom

In the download

4 parts, ready to print

Every STL is already placed the right way up. Download them all at once, or one by one.

Base

The stand: a floor with two side walls that keep the spool on the rollers, open slots the rollers drop into, a socket front and back for the guide, a slit on top of each wall to tuck the loose end of the filament in, and recesses underneath for rubber bumpers.

Size
176 × 156 × 50 mm
Print
Upright, floor on the bed. No supports.
Filament
≈ 129 g
STL 0.3 MB: Base

Roller × 2

A Ø28 × 107 mm tube with a pocket for a 608 bearing in each end. The spool's rims roll on it anywhere along its length.

Size
107 × 28 × 28 mm
Print
Standing up, no supports. A brim helps it stay put.
Filament
≈ 54 g
STL 0.2 MB: Roller

Axle peg × 4

The axle for one bearing: an 8 mm seat in the bearing, a collar that touches only its inner ring, and a journal that drops into the slot in the wall with its head outside.

Size
18 × 14 × 14 mm
Print
Head down, no supports.
Filament
≈ 6 g
STL 0.1 MB: Axle peg

Filament guide

An arm that plugs into the socket at the front or the back of the base and curves round the biggest spool to an eyelet: a funnel on the spool side, a 2.6 mm hole and a pocket for a 4 mm PTFE tube.

Size
79 × 69 × 14 mm
Print
Flat on its side, no supports.
Filament
≈ 10 g
STL 0.4 MB: Filament guide
Also needed

Parts you buy

  • 4 ball bearings type 608 (8 × 22 × 7 mm, the standard skate bearing), 608-2Z or 608-2RS. Any ABEC rating works.
  • Optional: a length of 4 mm PTFE tube (2 mm inside) to lead the filament from the guide to your printer.
  • Optional: four self-adhesive rubber bumpers, 10 mm across, for the recesses under the base.
  • No screws, no bolts and no glue: the printed pegs are the axles.
Print settings

Slicer settings

0.20 mmlayer height
3walls
15%gyroid infill
PLA or PETGmaterial

For a 0.4 mm nozzle. Filament amounts are estimates for these settings.

Assembly

How to build it

Print the parts

Nothing needs supports. Print the two rollers standing up (a brim helps) and the four pegs head down. Turn on elephant's foot compensation, or scrape the bottom edge of each bearing pocket, so the bearings go in straight.

Press in the bearings

Press a 608 bearing squarely into each end of both rollers, with a vice or by pushing the roller down onto a bearing lying on the table, until it stops on the ledge inside. The pocket is 22.15 mm, which prints as a firm press fit. If yours comes out loose, add a drop of glue on the outer ring only.

Fit the pegs

Push a peg into every bearing, seat first, until its small collar touches the bearing's inner ring. The seat is 7.9 mm, so it slides in; the walls hold it in place later.

Drop in the rollers

Hold a roller by its two pegs and lower it into the stand so the pegs drop into the slots in the walls, with the heads outside. Give it a spin: it should turn freely, with a quarter of a millimetre of end play each side.

Add the guide and a spool

Slide the guide's tongue into the socket at the front of the base (or the back, if your printer is behind it). Lay the spool on the rollers between the walls, turned so the filament comes off the bottom of the spool towards the guide, and thread it through the funnel. Push a PTFE tube into the pocket on the other side if you use one.

Mini spools and storage

On spools under Ø140 mm, take the filament off the top instead, so it doesn't brush the front roller. When the spool is off the printer, tuck the end of the filament into the slit on top of a wall. Stand the holder on a level surface.

Small parts: keep the pegs and the bearings away from young children.

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