USR - Universal Spool Rail MK1 (e.g. for IKEA LACK) incl. filament garage and passtrough

This model has been retired and only serves as a template for interested parties!

MK2 → link

Have you ever wanted to have your favorite filaments always on hand for manual multi-color printing or even for easy and quick loading?

Are you tired, like me, of rewinding filament onto the spool after every change?

How about a pass through from the top and NOT from behind of your IKEA LACK enclosure?

Update 08.06.2023:

Some parts were separated due to licensing of some original parts and my upcoming USR MK2

Pros:

• One rail, many combinations
• Adding/removing/adjusting spool width is a snap, no tools required
• Filament is loaded from the front
• Identification labels/tags for numbers/text or QR (useful for Octoprint spool manager), change them as you like
• PTFE feedthrough from top to inside
• Optional nuts for use with PC4M10 
• No rewinding after manual color change
• More addons will follow…

Addons and separated parts:

• Guide block numbers → link

• Rail support for "USR - Universal Spool Rail" (MK1/MK2) → link
  • Single slider
  • Different end parts for this version and the upcomming MK2
  • Dual slider (save some space and material)

• PTFE Clips → link 

• Tag plates with paper insert → link

Material: 

• I used PLA

Infill: 

• I printed all parts with 15% infill

Quality and support: 

• All parts can be printed with 0.3mm layer height AND without support (correct alignment presupposed)
• Only the PC4M10 plate should be printed with 0.2mm layer height and needs minimal support  
• For the correct print alignment look at the 3mf files

Tag plates: 

• The tag plates can be removed/changed
• I have uploaded some examples for numbers 
• Use color change for better readability

Bill of material (Rail):

With my setup I can theoretically use up to 7 smaller spools. However, there are 8 passes for 8 spools and all of them should be usable with longer rods.

I used 50cm rods as I need some more space for my next project

• 4x 608zz ball bearings per spool
• 2x any kind of 8mm rods
• 2x end parts
• (spool count * 2) - (2 end parts) = number of sliders needed
• Some wood screws
• 1x PTFE feeder per spool 
• Required tag plates

Set up the sliders:

• make sure the holes in the sliders are clean so they will move smoothly
• sanding the bottom of the sliders can help if they tend to get stuck
• put the rods in the end pieces, mark the holes and screw them down tightly
• put the required number of ball bearings on the rods 
• start with one of the end pieces and put the bearings in it
• take a slider and do the same thing
• move the slider towards the first end part
• repeat with the next slider until all bearings and sliders are mounted
• push the last bearings into the other end part

Drill the roof hole:

• From the inside of your enclosure, use the back plate to mark the passes for PTFE tubes AND the screws for the back plate
• Make sure you are as far back as possible
• Drill a hole for each of 4 PTFE passes so you can arrange the back plate at the other side 
• Now orient yourself to the drilled holes to do the same on the other side
• Using a cutter, cut a rectangle on both sides as large as all 4 passes and remove the 
• paper support from the inside

*Don't be irritated by the many holes on the picture. I experimented a lot until i came to this solution

Bill of material (guide block):

• 4x PTFE guides
• 1x back plate
• 1x front plate
• 1x PC4M10 plate
• 2x M3 screws
• 2x M3 Nuts

Assembling the guide block:

• Push two nuts into the front plate
• Use a 4mm drill bit and clean out all holes of each PTFE Guide
• Press each PTFE guide into the PC4M10 plate to make sure they fit
• They may fit very tightly, but with a little force you will be successful
• Now remove them all
• Use two M3 screws and screw the PC4M10 plate to the front plate
• Repeat the process, but this time push them through the front plate first

• Place the back plate on the table 
• Insert the outermost end of the guides into the back plate with an angle of 45°
• Now push the guides into the horizontal position
• This also requires some force, but makes sure that all parts stay in place
• Now you can use some glue for safety and stick the guides to the back plate
• Make sure you can push a tube trough all the holes with very little force

Set up PTFE tubes:

• start from the inside of the enclosure, it makes life easier ;)
• check the length you need between the nozzle and the guide block
• push one PTFE tube after the other through the guides
• make sure they are all at the right length to reach the nozzle without too tight a radius
• push all the tubes through the roof hole and screw the guide block tight
• now push the tubes through the guides in the other guide block, but cross them per column (inner/outer holes on each guide) to accomplish this:

• this will make further assembly much easier, as visually one tube will always be on the same hole on both guide blocks
• make sure there is a distance of about 15 cm between the roof hole and the guide block. This helps to push all pipes through the guide block more easily.
• Now pull back the guide block while holding all the tubes from inside, so they can not move
• If you are unsuccessful, try one after the other
  • Hold one end inside
  • Push the guide block back a few cm
  • Try next tube
• DO NOT use too much force and do not damage the tubes!
• Screw the guide block tight
• Finally, push each tube from both sides so that the tube gets a small belly between the guide blocks

Installing the feeders

• Slide a PTFE tube under the rods and push it into a feeder
• The PTFE tube should not be too loose. Use an M3 bolt and nut to secure the tube, if necessary and do not squeeze it!
• Now turn the feeder to the horizontal position, place it under the rods and turn it upwards

• Tags can be removed/changed

Change filament:

• Eject the old filament
• Cut off the end as you always do 
• You don't need to rewind the filament, just slide it into a free slot in the filament garage 
• Pull the desired filament out of the garage and load it
• Print