Custom Filament Spool Rack

I've always been irritated with my lack of a good solution for my 3D Printer filament spools. I have so many of them, but they are either tucked down into a bin under my printer that's hard to get to, or they are stacked on each other on their sides. There were a few designs out there for coat hanger style brackets that relied on wooden dowels, but those can get expensive. Instead, I grabbed a 10 ft section of 3/4" schedule 40 PVC from the hardware store and jumped into Fusion 360.

Prototype 1

I wanted to just test size and bracket mounting options. This allowed me to print a single bracket to test fitment of the PVC as well as spacing for the actual spools to sit on them.

Prototype 2

Once I verified that the sizing was right, I printed a second one of them to test that the spools sat solidly in between the 2 PVC pipes and were easy to take in and out while staying stable. I then modified my design a bit to join 2 of the prototype 1s together in order to not have to use as much mounting hardware and to keep the distance between the PVC consistent.

This proved to be a very solid design and holds the spools perfectly. This prototype will work if you're wanting it on a shelf in a single stack. I even created a through hole variant so you can provide support if you're doing a wide run.

Prototype 3

This wasn't enough for me. I want to stack the filament spools at least 2 spools high. But how do I go about it? I spent a bit of time thinking on how to do this, but then decided I'll just re-design the bracket to have a stacked option. I used the same framework from the first sketch and added a bracing that goes up the height needed to do another spool. Ultimately I came up with this design. I also created through hole for this one as well for the center for extra support again.

Ultimately I decided to stick with Prototype 3, which will be available over on Printables in the near future for non-commercial use. This was a fun project to put together as I really needed a spot for my filament. I've not added any to the top of my rack yet as I am running a bit low on spools since starting this venture (I've been working on it occasionally for the better part of 2 months as I get time, but I've done some testing and it holds great. If you don't want to bolt it down you can always apply some CA (cyanoacrylate) glue, aka Super Glue to the insides of the mounting to hold the pipe in place. I want to wait to do that with mine until I have a chance to spray paint the pipes.

If you found this useful, let me know in the comments below and let me know if this is the type of thing you want to see more of.