Praying Sheep Counter Top Paper Towel Holder

Inspired by the idea of a sheep praying as it spins around when dispensing towels. Found the perfect sheep face from Hedo3D here https://www.printables.com/model/52196-shaun-the-sheep-v2-new-face-toilet-roll-easy-print and added the praying hands to it to go with the rest of the parts.

It's little legs try to help you keep the paper towel from unraveling.

STL and STEP files are made for paper towel rolls with an inner diameter of ~43mm and outer diameter of ~110mm (can probably house up to 145mm before the legs block the roll)

Here's a demo of it in action: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MTlALrQYvCE
 

Print & Assembly instructions

Print the following:
1x Btm
1x Topcover
1x Head
1x Connector
2x Eye (from the original model by Hedo3D)

Assembly:

1. Use a blade/thin piece to separate the top portion of the Btm model. There is a thin line of built-in support with space to put your blade in to cut along the layer to free it. You should be able to freely spin the top cone independent of the feet.
2. If using regular version follow this step or skip to step(4) if using “NoCore” version. Fold an old inner tube to form kind of a horseshoe shape so that it is smaller and can fit in to the cylinder at the top of the Bottom piece and Topcover piece. Fit this tube on to the base.
3. Place paper towel role on and cap the top of the inner tube with the Topcover piece.
4. If using “NoCore” version follow this step or skip to next step if using regular version. Fit the inner cardbord tube of the new paper towel roll on to the raised tube on the Bottom piece. Fit the TopCover piece on to the other end of the paper tower
5. Add the Connector to the cutout on Topcover and connect the head. Stick on the eyes in which ever configuration you find most pleasing.
6. Done.

Parameters available for tweaking in f3d file

roll_inner_d = This is the inner diameter of your paper towel roll for “NoCore” versions and the diameter of the rod you are using as a core for the regular version
roll_dia = Outer diameter of your paper towel roll to make sure it clears the little legs
bear_tol = Tweak this value to adjust the tolerence/gap between the “walls” and “ball bearings” of the bearing mechanism
tube_thk = thickness of the tube structure connecting to the core or paper towel roll. “NoCore” versions uses 2mm to make sure it is firm enough to hold in the tube.
tube_flange_hei = How thick/tall the flange part (The spinny part that you free) on the Bottom piece is
tube_flange_d = Diameter for the flange part in case you want it wider
feet_ang, feet_len = Available to tweak the feet if you widened the base and therefore made the spacing abit different OR just want to adjust the feet size and spacing

Design Background
This started of as a fully print in place project but the height meant I had to split it up in to pieces which does help with printing times and better use of other materials.
I thought it would be cool to reuse the inner tube of an old role so decided to use a folded up old inner tube as the core. This didn't work out so well so there is also a “NoCore” version that friction fits into the inner tube of the paper towel roll. It was hard to get the TopCover on to the folded core.
If using the regular version you could also use any other rod you can find like a PVC pipe as long as the diameter is smaller than the inner diameter of the paper towel roll. The slope on the flange then allows you to compress and connect with just the inner cardboard tube of varying sizes.
The multiple parts would also allow you to design new hands and heads to replace them in the future.

ToDo
- Improve bearing. (Currently bearings will move out of place and seize if spun in air without anything supporting the bottom, under typical uses it should be fine)
- Possible future version with hands grabbing the towel to help the legs