Any tricks to wrapping filament with a drill? (Page 1 of 2)

Is the pile on the floor a coil or a messy pile?

If messy pile like the video, it should spool fine.

If coil, you need to periodically spin the whole drill/spool assembly about a vertical axis, to get rid of the twist in the filament.

It isn't over the pile that matters, you have to physically rotate the drill and spool periodically about the vertical axis to counteract the twist of the coil.

Or stand in the middle of the coil and spin round and round, but that gets dizzy fast.

People think that the messy pile is more prone to tangling, but it actually spools faster/easier than a coil.

Random messy will coil fine because it doesn't have continuous twisting that a coil introduces. Spinning the drill isn't an issue either, I can take a video of what I mean sometime next week but there's nothing to it really.

and if it has twist when spooled it will keep jumping off spool while using like the stuff I got from a member on here. real PITA to print with its like 90 degrees twisted always so any slack and off it goes like a slinky but not enough twist to turn spool 180 degrees to fix, and it keeps making snapping sounds as it unspools when the filament jumps a few wraps which is worrisome too since I work on puter in front of it to catch any issues that may occur. never did like babysitting ;^P

close but after running down a half inch deeper it still is the same

it seems it would best be wound/unwound same as fishing line, unless it tends to twist more as it cools after spooled. but fishing line has to wind in same way as it comes off to prevent tangles when used. just dont see why this problem dont come up more often. must be something done different than all the people that have no issue like this.

its tight on spool. but if even 1 wrap gets loose it heads for the side of spool. so I cant keep from making extruder tug filament as it prints which can cause other issues on say fast front to back print passes when it gets spool swinging. then steps etc get skipped. and if 1 loop gets off spool the next few follow suit.

I got the cleaner with foam in place plus a clothes hanger wire bent to just clear spool sides haning in spool hole but if any loop gets enough slack to clear top edge of spool its gone.

and I agree 100% about the dumb way SD feeds filament. either use Boden or at least make spool rack with cones that roll on bearings to fit all spool holes then a shroud over duel spool rack with guides for filament to come strait off proper side of spools that feed down towards extruder/s. no more issues plus halp keep filament dry inside cover with rest of printer. thats my goal when ever 'someday' gets here ;^)

other spools when the filament gets slack even if several loops do they dont lean either side just strait above where they are. I can unwind/loosen several loops and near zero tension for extruder to pull, when monitering high detail prints

techbuilder2175,

This simply an opinion, but get a Filawinder because you know that you deserve one. On top of being a very nice winding solution, you can also use it as a "very nice spool holder" that you could mount or place somewhere near your printer and let it feed out the filament as you print with it.

Mine is currently running in that capacity on my DaVinci. If you look at the photo you can see the "hanger mod" on the back of the printer that in all honesty simply doesn't work as well nor have near the capacity of using the winder as a spool holder. The hander mod also tends to let a "loop slip off" if I forgot to shove the printer all the way back against the wall after I loaded a spool on it.

The only issue I've encountered with the winder since I bought it was when it's wall wart died. Luckily I have other devices that use the same plugin and volts, so I just "borrowed" one from there. I'll include the picture of how I make the filament as well. In the end it's just setup the Filastruder and Filawinder, start the process running and winding, fill the hopper as needed, then move the winder motor up, move the Filawinder on top of my printer and start printing with the new filament.

Yes, likely later in the week like Thursday or Friday. Getting caught up from being out of town the holiday weekend.

I thought of another way that accomplishes the same thing. Say you're holding the drill in your right hand, and guiding the filament on with your left. If you stop the drill and wrap a few turns around the spool while still holding the spool horizontal, that will put do the same thing as rotating the whole drill about a vertical axis. Therefore, the coil's turns will be counteracted.

That of course depends on the relationship between coil direction and drill winding direction. I don't know offhand, but try it one way - if doing what I describe makes it better, you're all set. If not, you need to spin the drill the other way. I run the drill in the forward direction, the direction you'd use to drill something. I think my coils have always naturally been the same direction.

Just watch the coil on the floor, you'll see when its close to tangled. There's no formula.