Tools for changing filaments, with the stock extruder on the Ender 3 v2. (I believe they'll also work with the original Ender 3).

The problem

When changing filament, it can be hard to align the filament with the hole inside the extruder; the process seems to require either 3 hands, or perfect pre-straightening of the filament.

But no more, with this tool kit!

The solution

• Squeeze the extruder lever to open its jaws, then put the clip over the top of the extruder, to hold the lever in the depressed position. This frees one of your hands.

• Use the alignment tool to push the filament down to align with the hole inside the extruder. The tool has a little shelf that will stop you when you reach the height of the hole. I find I always need to push the filament down, because it naturally curves upward so it tends to hit just above the hole.

Epilogue

These made the stock extruder a little nicer to use. But still, I eventually upgraded to a dual-gear extruder, which I strongly recommend to everyone. In addition to solving my under-extrusion problems, the dual-gear extruder guides the filament better, so it doesn't need these tools.