CR6 Top Mount Spool Installation Kit

I like the original https://www.printables.com/model/175549-cr6-top-gantry-spool-mount model, but it bothered me that the tolerances in mine allowed the spool to sag a tad toward the unsupported side. 

I decided to remix that model to allow me to install a second holder arm and design a couple of adapters, to add a support on that other side; one which I could easily pivot out of the way, when I am mounting or unmounting the spool.  Of course, then I needed a way to add support from that 2nd arm to the end of the spool holder shaft.

This kit assumes that you, as do I, will use my Spool Holder System, which is available here: https://www.printables.com/model/128653-spool-reel-holder-system-with-adaptors-bearings-fo. (Not pushing my stuff, just explaining what it takes to make use of this kit.)  

To connect the “unsupported-end” of the spool holder to the 2nd (pivoting) arm, I designed a two-part version of the CR-6_SE_to_26mmDiaSpoolHolder_Adaptor.stl  [Available at https://media.printables.com/media/prints/128653/stls/1233221_67463113-2f85-4a90-a87b-b78dc24ea538/cr-6_se_to_26mmdiaspoolholder_adaptor.stl#_ga=2.159614973.1389269173.1664673088-1707186522.1648682390]

The full top-mount spool installation kit therefore consists of:

• All 3 of the models posted here:
  • 1 x open-sided holder arm bracket
  • 1 x arm-holder-to-shafted-cap-adapter
  • 1 x shafted-cap

     + one original CR6 Top Gantry Spool mount

     + the original CR6 side-mounted spool holder arm (injection-molded & likely stronger than the FDM-printed arm)

     + one of either https://www.printables.com/model/287215-cr6-spool-holder-arm (or the original arm by grdesign on Thingiverse, the pivot of which I remixed.)

     + at least one CR-6_SE_to_26mmDiaSpoolHolder_Adaptor.stl and one shaft_26mmDia.stl from my Spool Holder System

      + two each of whichever of my Spool-to-Shaft Adaptors [Bearings] fit your filament spools

      + 6 x M5x10mm bolts

      + 6 x M5 T-Nuts

      + 2 x M5 x 40mm bolts

      + 2 x M5 nuts (e.g. nyloc locknuts)

Post-Printing Tips:

• Remember to find and remove all supports from the print
• Test-fit the bayonet connections (may require a little xacto knife trimming of stubborn support material off the bayonet stubs inside the 3D printed arm hole….)

To install this kit:

1.  Using 3 x M5 x 10mm bolts and 3 x M5 T-nuts, bolt the open-sided holder arm bracket to the top rail of the printer gantry, to the immediate left of the printer handle, with the open side pointing away from the handle.
2. Using the remaining M5 x 10mm bolts and M5 T-Nuts, bolt the CR6 Top Gantry Spool mount to the immediate right of the printer handle.
3. Using 1 x M5 x 40mm bolt and one M5 nut, bolt the original CR6 side-mounted spool holder arm into the CR6 Top Gantry Spool mount.  NOTE: Position the arm with the spool holder toward the rear of the printer!
4. Using the remaining M5 x 45mm bolt and M5 nut, bolt the 3D-printed spool holder arm into the open-sided arm bracket, also with the spool holder toward the rear of the printer.
5. Screw the CR-6_SE_to_26mmDiaSpoolHolder_Adaptor.stl to the shaft_26mmDia.stl
6. Install the bayonet-end of the assembly from step 5 into the original spool holder arm.)
7. Install a spool of filament onto the 26mm shaft (preferably, but optionally, with two of the plastic bearings installed in the center holes of the filament spool.)
8. Screw the shafted-cap into the end of the 26mm shaft
9. Fit the arm-holder-to-shafted-cap-adapter in through the left side of the hole in the 3D-printed spool holder arm, sliding the adapter over the end of the shaft of the shafted-cap, and twisting the adapter into the bayonet connection on the arm.