This Steampunk genre themed spool holder for 3D printing filament is optimized for the ColorFabb reels as that is what I buy, however the variables may be changed for any other spool shape.
It has the interesting feature that the bearing friction, small already,, is leveraged by the inverse gear ratio such that the friction is much lower. This is an improvement of the traditional approach with the plastic spool sides setting on slippery metal bearing housings.
The gears have an attractive steampunk appearance and spin as the filament feeds for a pleasant visual effect. I plan to add graphical embellishment where possible to really punk it up!
Now printed are all three axles, all six end caps, and two of the six gears (the upper ones on the spool). Have a look at the picots for updates on things like it hs a base now and a photo of the assembled spool. Looking' good! Should have it all printed and assembled in two days.