I looked at the filament mount my Flashforge Creator Pro came with and thought: What if it had ball bearings? So I did a re-design and later added a guide to prevent filament jamming. For a more detailed description see the pictures and texts below!

Required Parts:

for 1x Filament Mount

• printed parts:
  • 1x Mount_Base.stl
  • 1x Mount_Cylinder.stl
• 1x hex head screw M8 x 90mm
• 3x washer M8 (inner diameter: 8.4mm, outer diameter: 16mm)
• 1x nut M8
• 1x locknut M8
• 2x ball bearing (inner diameter: 8mm, outer diameter: 22mm, width: 7mm)

for 1x Filament Guide

• printed parts:
  • 1x Filament_Guide_Part_1.stl (printed mirrored for the second side)
  • 1x Filament_Guide_Part_2.stl
  • 1x Filament_Lid.stl
• for assembly of Filament Guide
  • 1x ball bearing (inner diameter: 4mm, outer diameter: 12mm, width: 4mm)
  • 1x washer M4 (inner diameter: 4.3mm, outer diameter: 9mm)
  • 1x spring lock washer M4
  • 1x threaded insert M4 (I use inserts from Ruthex)
  • 1x socket screw M4 x <16mm
• for installation of Filament Guide to Filament Mount
  • 2x nut M3
  • 2x socket screw M3 x 8mm

Post-Printing

General Design

The basis for the general design is the original filament mount the Flashforge Creator Pro comes with.

My thought was: What if it had ball bearings? ... So I designed the Filament Mount with a rotating cylinder. It is slipped in the slots on the back on the 3D-Printer just as the original would.

Since I had trouble with the filament jamming I then added a Filament Guide which can be screwed to the side of the Mount. Its wheel is also mounted with a ball bearing to reduce drag. To prevent the filament from slipping off the wheel a Filament Lid can be clicked on the arm of the Guide.

Assemble the Filament Mount

The Filament Mount each consists of two parts: the base and the cylinder. The assembly is done in the following steps:

1. Screw the M8 hex bolt into the base.
   • There is a hex slot for the bolt's head on the backside.
   • Use a washer on the frontside to spread the load on the printed part.
2. Press the ball bearings in the round slots on both sides on the cylinder.
3. Slide a washer onto the bolt in the base.
4. Slide the cylinder onto the bolt.
5. Slide another washer onto the bolt, into the round slot at the end of the cylinder onto the ball bearing.
6. Screw the lock nut onto the bolt. Don't over-tighten it. The cylinder should still be able to rotate easily.

To illustrate this explanation there is a picture below with the printed parts transparent.

Post Printing: add rubber

To reduce noise it is recommended to add adhesive rubber to the back side of theFilament Mount, as shown in the pictures below. The Design has been made with a 1mm rubber layer on both the back side and the lever in mind.

Installation

The installation is pretty straight-forward: Simply screw theFilament Guide to theFilament Mount, just be careful to attach it to the correct side. Afterwards click theFilament Lid onto the arm of the Guide. Now you can attach it to the printer, just as you would attach the original filament mount.

Note: Getting the M3 nuts into the appropriate slots might be a bit finnicky, though. I use a pair of tweezers... and a bit of luck.

Final Thoughts

So far this improved Filament Mount plus Filament Guide has been working perfectly for me. It is a very useful extension to the standard Flashforge Creator Pro that I would encurage anyone to print.

However; I'm not claiming it is perfect. Here are the problems I've noticed so far:

• The Filament Lid is quiet delicate and can break easily when loading/unloading the filament (sliding it through instead of clipping it in from the side is strongly advised!).
• The Filament Guide might work better at a different angle? I don't know but might experiment there in the future.

Your ideas / criticism, etc.

If you have Ideas for improvements and/or find problems with the design please do not hesitate to tell me. After all that's the best way to further improve the design :)