One Handed Manual Solder Feeder

Finally got some usable resin parts printed and cured for testing.  Works very nicely.  There is a bit of a trade off on size and weight of spool and balance in your hand while using it.  The spool could be mounted a bit closer to the ferrule or maybe a bit smaller in size to not be as heavy (at cost of more frequent refills).  

The first test print of the spool with resin didn't turn out so well.  Lost a lot of the supports on the feeder, the lid failed completely.  After chasing the threads with a die the feeder fit nicely with the spool holder.  The  spool holder still had the center hole sized for heat set insert.  I tried to install one with extra heat but ended up splitting the mounting location.  

Last time I used this resin was winter and space heaters were used to keep printer warm.  Side project started to add a heater to the resin printer. 

The spools turned out nicely.  

Spool and holder was redesigned.  M3 screw is used a s shaft for the spool to rotate about and keep the cap on the spool holder.  Printed test part from PLA, spool in two pieces and glued together.  Spool has 3mm hex for winding solder with a drill.  Spool spins freely on the M3 screw.  Superglue test fit works nicely.  Going to update design to make feeder and spool holder from single resin print, might as well print the rest from resin then too.

Resin version of the solder feeder finished printing.  Looks nice.  

Whipped up a design for an integrated solder spool.  It has a threaded section to mount onto the solder feeder.  One side of the spool is secured with a screw after installing in the mount.  4mm hex allowed spinning the spool with a drill to load solder onto the spool.  Printed out the spool in PLA+ for testing and super glued it in place.  It turns pretty freely by hand, however feeding the solder off the spool was too difficult.  The whole outer edges of the spool rub along the mount.  Might work better with a cleaner print.  I was trying to keep design simple but might need a bearing or at least a smooth metal shaft to make it work.