Mini Spool

📁 3D Printing ⭐ Beginner ⏱️ 3–6 hours
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Mini Spool

Project Description

Mini spools designed for storing leftover filament and cables. I had tons of filament remnants at home and it felt wasteful to have large spools taking up space when the filament could be rewound onto something much smaller.

The design is compact yet robust enough to handle rough use. Available in two side plate sizes (40 mm and 50 mm diameter) with variable center widths from 15 mm to 60 mm, so you can pick the perfect size for your needs.

Print Settings

ParameterValue
MaterialPLA / PETG / ASA (no limits)
Layer Height0.2 mm (optionally 0.3 mm)
Infill20%
SupportsNo

Print Times

PartPrint TimeFilament
Both side plates 40 mm2h 50m24 m / 72 g
Both side plates 50 mm3h25 m / 76 g
Center 15 mm35m5 m / 14.6 g
Center 20 mm44m6.5 m / 19 g
Center 25 mm55m7.5 m / 23 g
Center 30 mm1h 4m9 m / 27 g
Center 35 mm1h 14m10.5 m / 31.2 g
Center 40 mm1h 24m11.5 m / 35.3 g
Center 45 mm1h 33m13 m / 39.3 g
Center 50 mm1h 43m14.5 m / 44 g
Center 60 mm2h17 m / 52 g

Assembly

Each spool requires 5x M3 nuts (DIN 934) and 5x M3 socket head cap screws (DIN 912). Screw length depends on center width:

Center WidthScrew (DIN 912 M3)Nuts (DIN 934 M3)
15 mmM3 x 25 mm5 pcs
20 mmM3 x 30 mm5 pcs
25 mmM3 x 35 mm5 pcs
30 mmM3 x 40 mm5 pcs
35 mmM3 x 45 mm5 pcs
40 mmM3 x 50 mm5 pcs
45 mmM3 x 55 mm5 pcs
50 mmM3 x 60 mm5 pcs
60 mmM3 x 70 mm5 pcs

Learned Lessons

💡 Patience with Tight Tolerances

Fitting the center pieces into the side plates wasn't as simple as expected. I wanted to keep the grooves as tight as possible to avoid slop, which meant several iterations to get the fit just right. Even with such simple parts, precision matters.

Problems & Solutions

⚠️ Side Plate Groove Fitment

The grooves in the side plates for the center piece were too tight or too loose depending on printer calibration and material shrinkage.

✅ Solution

Multiple test prints with incremental adjustments to the groove width until achieving a snug but smooth fit across different materials.

Files & Downloads

🖨️

STL Files

Download from Printables

📄

Documentation PDF

Parts overview & dimensions