Faberdashery filament spool

I love faberdashery filament! It is beautiful (some even sparkles) and it is great to print with. But never, ever, ever try to print with a 100m coil straight out the bag. I tried this morning and spent two and a half hours cursing and swearing as it twisted and tangled. I’d try turning the coiled filament first one way then the other trying to see if it would be less twisted but nothing seemed to help. It nearly drove me insane.

So, before I risked my sanity (such as it is) by printing again, I decided to make a filament spool. I was inspired by the fossil collection that my eldest son had left next to my printer:

A quick web search of local DIY stores resulted in a brief visit to purchase two 30cm Plastic Terracotta Saucers and some M6 80mm Roofing Bolts (with hindsight 60mm bolts would be enough).

The saucers helpfully have octants marked out on the back so it was easy to see where best to drill four holes and selecting fully-threaded bolts meant that I could use washers and nuts from my extensive collection to hold the upturned saucer firmly against the heads of the bolts:

(The observant may notice the [optional] split straws to protect the filament from the thread - a nifty idea taken from thing:16046.)

I then placed the coiled filament on the saucer:

followed by another nut and washer on each bolt, followed by the other saucer - the right way up this time - and yet more washers and nuts.

The result was a filament spool that fits nicely on my existing spool holder:

And so, my sanity saved, I can press on printing parts for my metric cerberus.