I needed a rolled goods holder, and most of the stuff available online was way too expensive, and way too big for what I needed. So I made this to drop right into my gridfinity setup at work. It's also the perfect size to print in only one plate on any full size Bambu Lab printer. I printed the holders in PETG with 3 walls and 15% gyroid infill. It's currently supporting a roll of film that's 10kg, plus a steel rod. I printed the core plugs out of PETG-CF, just for some abrasion resistance. Also with 3 walls, but with 25% 3D hexagon infill. My core plugs are not using any bearings. 

All you need is a rod, and two 6000 series roller bearings to make it work! You can probably get away without the bearings, if you have a smooth enough rod, or if you use a bearing in the core plug. The core plug is customizable, and can be customized to be used with any size bearing, or even without a bearing. In theory, you could design a printed rod to just connect between the core plug and the holder, but I do not recommend this. 

The stand is not customizable, but the core plug is. Please click “Customize” under the model selection to change the core plug however you want.

Core Plug

I cannot possibly create a core plug file for every rod, and every roll of product, so I made a customizable one! There are a lot of options in the customizer, but they all have explanations.

Bearings

As mentioned above, this holder is sized for 6000 series bearings. I recommend that you use at least one pair of bearings for wear resistance. That way, nothing is moving directly across a printed part. If, for whatever reason, you cannot use 6000 series bearings for your holder, then please customize the core plug to fit your required bearings, and simply drop the rod directly into the holder. The holder has an opening diameter of 15mm, if you're planning on going this route.

Rods

I just happened to have a 10mm steel rod lying around, so I used that. I do not recommend a printed rod for this task. Please do not print a rod to hold your rolled good. Metal rods are fairly cheap. I'd even recommend a wooden dowel over a printed rod in this case. 

Friction stop

I found that this made my roll roll a little too well. So I made a friction stop to go with it. This part is optional, but helpful. I printed the friction stop assembly out of PLA. The part that actually contacts the roll will most likely wear over time, but I didn't want to scratch my roll using fiber reinforced filaments, so I'll just use PLA with the knowledge that it'll probably be sacrificial. It requires a 90 degree spring with a decent amount of stiffness. The one available on Maker's Supply isn't strong enough. It also requires an M4x25mm bolt, and an M4 nut.

I'm still not satisfied with the friction stop design, but I'll come back to it in a future revision.

Future Versions

As of right now, the holder requires a 6000 series bearing. In the future, I plan on adapting it to allow for other bearing types, but for now, a 6000 series bearing will have to do. If you want to simply drop the shaft into the holders, I suppose that that will work as well. It just won't roll as smoothly.

Additionally, I plan on changing the friction stop… Somehow. I'll come back to that eventually, when I figure out something I like.