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Please upload the middle filament spool bracket

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shaqFoo

New Member
#1
#1
Gordon,

Can you please add the middle filament spool bracket to the downloads section? Only the left and right brackets are available for download.

I would like to have more than two spools on my XT at any given time. As I learn and experiment with different materials and colors I can see it being a big convenience to have easy access to more than two spools on the upper arm. I built a worktable for my XT that is slightly higher than a drafting table so I could walk up to the printer and have the bed be chest high. I didn't want to have to look down, bend or sit to have the best view of the print bed so the upper arm of my XT is about 6'3" feet off the floor.

To hold a loose end of filament that is not being used by either of the two extruders, I plan on making a compression clip (based on your cable management clip) than can be inserted/twist locked to the upper frame just below each spool. This will provide an easy way to hold the loose end of filament and provide easier (lower) access to the end of the filament then having to "clip" it back into the spool itself that rests much higher on the filament bracket.

I want to make sure this won't present any problems or somehow affect the prints. The 80/20 frame on the XT is rock solid and feels like I can do chin-ups on it. :D It appears it can bear the weight of spools spanning the whole width of the printer. - Realistically, I don't see having more than 4 (maybe 5) spools up there though. Do you see any issues with this?

Thanks,

Larry

ps. If anyone else plans on doing this here's the hardware info Gordon had posted in another thread regarding the left and right brackets. I believe the hardware is the same - "The brackets attach to the 80/20 frame with (4) 5/8" bolts and they use standard 608 bearings which are available at any skate shop or online.
 
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shaqFoo

New Member
#3
#3
SpudWheelie,

You're absolutely right. I just looked at my printer and the middle bracket is indeed a left bracket with a longer bolt and bearings on both sides. Since all the hardware was installed on the brackets when I received the printer, I didn't realize the middle bracket was just the left bracket with bearings on both sides. . It looked different since there are bearings on both sides of the middle bracket and only one side on the left bracket.

Thanks for pointing this out.

Larry
 
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shaqFoo

New Member
#5
#5
Spudwheelie,

Do you know if the left bracket is the same for the 1.5 and the 1.5 XT? I printed out a pair of brackets and they are very different than the ones that came with my printer (they won't work). The geometry and size is different. When the 90 angle of the bracket I printed rests on the top bar, (ready to bolt in), the angle of the bearings on the bearings would be almost 45 degrees rotated compared to the ones that came with my printer that are oriented correctly. In other words, if I mounted the bracket I printed, it would "dump" the spool.

Another difference is the left bracket I downloaded from the site has a plastic loop on it whereas the twp that came with my printer (last week) do not. Where did you get your stl file from?

I have pictures of the two brackets side by side but the forum wont let me upload pictures.



Cheers,

Larry
 
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Spudwheelie

New Member
#6
#6
You most likely printed the filament brackets for the 1.0. Go to downloads then go to gmax 1.5 3d files. You can download a zip with all the parts for the 1.5 and 1.5xt. I put the 1.5 filament brackets I printed in a zip for you.
 

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shaqFoo

New Member
#7
#7
Spudwheelie,

Wow! What a game.

Thank you. That's the bracket I needed - they printed perfect. BTW, I am really pleased with my XT now that it is built (12.5 hrs). I was going to name it Maxine, Maxwell, Maximillian, Maximus or Dave but in the end, Red Ryder won out. Big Red was never in the running. ;)

Anyway, it is producing quality and useful prints. Out of curiosity, I wanted to see how uneven my bed would become between prints,auto homes and manually moving the printer about the 3 axis via the LCD screen. I printed the two brackets you uploaded, two of the wrong brackets, a full scale replica of a DJI Flamewheel drone (all 4 legs, both top & bottom plates and 4 feet in one print!), and a few other things and I haven't had to re-level the bed at all. The vertical faces are really clean and I am not seeing any warping due to prints not sticking with the stock acrylic bed.

I printed the brackets at PLA 20% infill - 3 perimeter layers. I could probably print them at 15% but I didn't want to use the filament only to find out they should have been beefier.

Do you know what the settings are for the GMax parts (infill&perimeters) and also what material is used? (I assume PLA).

Thanks again for your help. I have learned a tremendous amount from the users in this forum and I hope that my questions and experiences can help others as well. You, CRussell, MWU, Ray K, Sherpa_Chris and a slew of others have really helped lower the learning curve for me and I suspect many next gen GMax adopters as well.

Cheers,

Larry
 

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crussell

crussell

Member
#8
#8
Larry, that came out looking really purtty! I'd almost say even sexy had you given it a more feminine name :D

I like the LED's you've added. Gives it an awesome glow. Just hope you used a dimmer so the neighbors aren't blinded.
 
sherpa_chris

sherpa_chris

Member
#9
#9
I have considered loading up the top of my gmax with spool holders. But I am afraid of them falling on to the printer.This happened to me during an overnight print. My top rail is loaded with 3 to 4 reels of filament, but that was not the problem. I was using some inexpensive ebay filament and there was a crossover tangle in the reel. When the filament pulled taught it didn't break off. Instead it pulled the reel down and smashed my glass bed. Then the reel rolled off the desk and on to the floor. It took me awhile to figure out what happened because at first all I saw was a failed print sitting on a broken glass bed. "Did it crack on it's own?" I thought. Then I noticed the missing reel and figured it out.

Chris
 
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motorb

New Member
#11
#11
Do you know what the settings are for the GMax parts (infill&perimeters) and also what material is used? (I assume PLA).
Click to expand...
If you do print some replacements, just cut open the old ones and have a look!

I've been reprinting parts with 0.3 layer height and 4 perimeters with 40% hexagonal infill. This comes out about 10% heavier than the "OEM" parts but those use rectilinear infill. I figure that if it's failed once I may as well make it stronger for a few extra grams....
 
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motorb

New Member
#12
#12
I would like to have more than two spools on my XT at any given time.
Click to expand...
FYI it is recommended to leave PLA, PVA, PET, PC, Nylon etc in a dry, cool place, out of direct sunlight.

I keep mine in a large plastic tub under the machine with a rechargeable desiccant and all the silica bags that the filament arrives with. It isn't too much hassle when it's all there laid out in front of you.

I'll post up an improved holder next week if all goes well for tool-less changing spools of different widths
 
gCreate_Kyle

gCreate_Kyle

Administrator
#14
#14
I have been thinking about brackets mounted on either side of the frame with a wooden dowel that runs across and through the center of all the filament reels. Like a paper towel holder only bigger. Its sole purpose to catch a reel from falling on the bed.
 
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raykholo

Member
#15
#15
Are you familiar with what the gMax used to look like?

I'm talking Kickstarter days... https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1683546801/the-gmax-3d-printer-print-bigger


Used to have that with a threaded rod... man that cut into the fingers. Also made switching between spools, especially when multiple spools were mounted, very difficult.

I understand your intention is a secondary safety mechanism, but there is still a bit of an issue.

The "Makerbot spool arm" actually has a lot of merit. Mine has a lip at the end so the reel won't slide off and the rotation and feed is very smooth even without any bearings.



Very easy to add another one on the other side, or even more than that... for some extremely large format printers I'm working on right now...
 
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Spudwheelie

New Member
#16
#16
I understand your intention is a secondary safety mechanism, but there is still a bit of an issue.
Click to expand...
Yes very important point there. Just a safety, so the dowel would be loose and easy to slide out and back in. Keep using the brackets with bearings to keep fiction low.

If your feeling crazy. I just butchered up a right filament bracket in blender. I made it wider and taller. Lower center of mass. I have yet to print it. I made it fit an 8 inch diameter spool. The idea would be to have 7 of these (my spools are 3 inches wide) for 6 spools across the top of the gmax 1.5. Then take 2 lengths of threaded rod 22" and connect them all together. I'll post a picture soon.

Board quota reached... no pictures :(
 
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Spudwheelie

New Member
#17
#17
I drew this up to work with the bearings that came with the gMax. I used smaller bearings because they fit the 1/4"x20 threaded rod that I had from another project. Because of this the bottom of the reel rubs. I highly doubt a filament reel will fall out of these things.
 

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