Wire Spool Storage
Store your spools of wire with this 3D printed carousel caddy! Holds up to six mini wire spools and spins! Get your practical 3D printing on with this handy organizer. I leave spools of wire on the table and it’s kinda messy so I finally made myself a little wire spool holder. I designed it to spin freely for no particular reason other than it looks cool. I also added these little notches that can be used to hold the wires in place. The carousel can hold up to 6 spools of wire which is enough to hold all the different colors in the Adafruit store.
Wire Thats Flexible + Durable
This 30 gauge wire features silicone sheathing which makes it really strong and flexible. It’s stranded wire and it’s really nice for projects and even wearables. The silicone is very resistant to heat so it won’t melt if the tip of the soldering iron gets too close. This is actually my goto stuff for just about every project. Most jumper wire use PVC based sheathing which isn’t very heat resistant. Silicone coated wires are going to last longer so it’s great for reworking.
Practical 3D Printing
I designed the base of the holder around these spools so they’ll fit precisely. It’s parametrically driven so it’s easy to update the design for different sizes. I printed them in PLA and thoroughly tested the tolerances so I went through several iterations.
What If I Don't Have A 3D Printer?
Not to worry! You can use a 3D printing service such as 3DHubs or MakeXYZ to have a local 3D printer operator 3D print and ship you parts to you. This is a great way to get your parts 3D printed by local makers. You could also try checking out your local Library or search for a Maker Space.
Slice Settings
These parts have been tested and 3D printed on an Ultimaker 2+ and 3 using PLA filament. The parts were sliced using CURA 3.x with the following slice settings.
- 220C extruder temp
- 65c bed temp
- 0.2 layer height
- 0.38 line width
- 2 Wall Line Count – 0.4 nozzle
- 20% infill
- 70mm/s print speed
Design Source Files
The spool holder carousel assembly was designed in Fusion 360. This can be downloaded in different formats like STEP, SAT and more.
Parametric Design
I setup several users parameters that will allow the tolerances to be easily adjusted. For example you can change the size of the ball bearing and wire spools.
- diameter – the size of the spool holders base
- gap – Not used but for tolerance clearance on snap fit features
- outerRing – The diameter of the ball bearings inner ring
- innerRing – The diameter of the bearings outer ring
- SpoolPeg – The diameter of the peg holders
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