Spool Prototype Progress

Today we worked on creating a prototype spool that will essentially hover and rotate over the Makerbot. The spool will feed plastic to the extruder from above the 3D Printer. The circular metal piece shown in the picture on the left acts as a lazy susan that is made to bear weight. So as pressure is added, it becomes easier to rotate. This factor played a huge role in the type of wood we needed to use for the prototype. We were able to find a heavy enough piece in a nearby Woodshop class to work with. As of now, we have cut out two round discs from the wood that will be used to sandwich the lazy susan and ultimately create a rotating base for the plastic to go on. That is all we have on the prototype for now but we are moving forward!