The Swizz

Swizzle style wire brush for cleaning extruder teeth.

If things go wrong with an extruder, it can grind the jammed filament into its fluted gripping teeth which reduces its effectiveness. It is challenging to access extruder gears with a typical 'toothbrush' style wire brush, so I developed The Swizz. (Swizzle style cleaning brush)

It is narrow with the bristles pointing forward aligned with the shaft, so can pass easily through the open extruder door. A small lateral motion does the cleaning.

Print instructions

No need for supports. I used a 0.3 layer height, but a lower one may look a little prettier.

• Single colour: use'the-swizz-single-colour.stl'
• Multicolour import both 'the-swizz-shaft.stl' and 'the-swizz-grip.stl' together or use 'split objects' on the single colour file

The Bristles

Use bristles recycled from a cheap toothbrush style wire brush obtained from a hardware store.

1. Use a heat gun to soften the plastic of the doner brush, then use needle-nosed pliers to extract a clump of bristles. You will need to clean off some excess plastic that comes out with the bristles. (Crush the cooled blob of plastic with pliers, it should fall off easily)

2. Put a dab of superglue in the hole at the end of The Swizz then insert the liberated bristles using pliers. (A small twist of The Swizz shaft will help with entry)

3. When the glue dries use wire cutters or similar to cut the tip of the bristles straight.

If you don't have a heat gun, then cut the bristles off. You will lose a few millimetres in length, but this shouldn't matter.