Re-spooler design we made for re-spooling PLA filament.
Handy tutorial here for those unfamiliar with the programming/electronics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCyGM2Tp37w
Nice work shai - how are you measuring the offcut filament?
We’re considering ball-parking it since as you wind it, the length it pulls per revolution increases considering the spool is building up. Probably just specify the amount of revolutions in the script.
Open to any better ideas though! As long as it’s not program heavy/complex.
Yeah, I have a couple of encoders that work pretty well, but I picked them up at a electronics surplus shop. I think I’d probably just count revolutions on the receiving spool and call it a day.
What type of encoders?
+shai schechter - pretty simple incremental rotational encoders. Basically I have a rubber bobbed wheel on it with an idler and as the filament runs through it turns the wheel. I’d intended on moving from a stepper to just an electric motor and a clutch, but never got around to it.
You could just run the filament between a pair of 608 bearings. Put a tiny (2mm) magnet on the side of one of the bearings and count revolutions with a hall sensor. Add the circumference of the bearing to the filament length count each time the hall triggers.