FlashForge Dreamer: OmniStand Rods and Spacers. Part 2 of 2.

Part 2 - Rods and Spacers.

For Part 1, see: https://www.printables.com/model/328497

These are my improvements for the ingenuous OmniStand v1.36 by Baron Williams - the replacement stands and rods for the FlashForge Dreamer printer. Think of this project as OmniStand v1.37, take 4.

Design

Please read the description of the project in Part 1, if you have not already. This is Part 2, it contains spool rods and spacers. 

Rods are what hold the filament spools. They twist-lock into the stands. Because rods are only 19 mm in diameter, spacers are needed to accommodate larger hole sizes in the spools (original FlashForge Dreamer 0.5 kg spools fit without the spacers).

There are two versions of the rods here: one which can be reinforced with ¾" long or 1" long #6 flat head sheet metal screw (and has a countersunk and pilot holes for this purpose), and the other with no such holes. Personally, I use the first version, reinforced with a shiny 18-8 grade stainless steel screw. It is not a must; however, if your print temperature is too low (or the fan speed is too high), then the rod's lock plate may break off the neck. 

Spacer halves are designed to be used in pairs (two spacer halves for one spool). Take a look at the pictures, they show the assembly. I find that 51 mm spacers fit a lot of spools. FlashForge 1 kg spools have 53 mm holes, but there is no crime in using 51 mm spacers for them as well, the spool will simply sit a little lower. Just make sure a spool can rotate freely and does not scrape the bottom of the printer. 

I should also give credit to T. McConnell (bl26), for his modification of Baron Williams' spacer design. I liked the idea of a large flange. Some spools have a recess around the hole, the flange prevents the spool from moving toward the print bed.  The flange is 90 mm in this version. If you need a different flange, follow the Onshape link, and open “Spool Spacer Half” tab. In the upper left corner, you will be able to pick spacer diameter and either 80 mm or 100 mm flange.

To export the model from Onshape, first set all configurations as you want them. Then, right-click the "Spool Spacer Half” tab and select “Export…”. Choose “Format: STL”,  “STL Format: Binary”, “Units: Millimeter”, “Resolution: Fine”.

Spool Winder Plugs

This is an optional part, and you will need two to insert into each spool spacer. In combination with a long 5/16" or M8 bolt, couple of nuts, and a power drill, you can have a quickly made "spool winder". See the last picture (spacers are white, plugs are dark gray). I used a carriage bolt, but you can use a threaded rod or some other bolt with sufficient length of threads to tighten the spool-spacers-plugs assembly.

How I printed

I used the same printing profile for the rods as in Part 1. That is 0.1 layer height, 70% infill. The rods do have an intricate profile and require both, precision and strength. Spacers were printed without the raft or skirt at 0.2 mm layer height. I did not change the infill, and this might be overkill for the spacers. Baron Williams suggests 20% infill for them, and it sounds reasonable. The spacers are mostly perimeters, though.

Rods are printed standing up and require support for the top lock plate. Spacers are printed with the flanges lying on the bed, support is needed for the raised center. 

The G-Code for Part 2 is in “OmniStandExtrasPart2.zip”.

CAD Link:

https://cad.onshape.com/documents/8ef5901448cef9233cd617bc/w/fd1551010e75e50652814f82/e/b3ff23d8ee4f3d146a6f8965