3D Printed Conductive Tape Holders

Conductive Tape related projects are a frequent sight in STEM classes and Maker Faires. They're a great way to introduce basic and intermediate circuitry projects to learners of all ages. However, one of the most annoying aspects of Conductive Tape projects is the long term use of the Conductive Tape Rolls. It's simple to use, but the rolls of tape easily become unraveled! Users, especially younger learners, will frequently end up with an unraveled roll that's nearly impossible to put back together!

We designed some simple 3D printed Conductive Tape Holders to help keep things together! Just print off the file for your size roll on any 3D printer, pop your conductive tape into the holder, and your tape is now free from unraveling! We have 3D printable files for standard rolls with a width of 1/4th inch and 3 inch diameter core (most common type for copper foil and nylon tape), as well as smaller 1.5 inch diameter core tape, and even 1/8th inch wide tape with a 1.5 inch core.

Full disclosure, we make and sell conductive tape related kits such as the really awesome nylon conductive Maker Tape. You can use these 3D printed files with most conductive tape types and brands sold on the market, since most use a 3 inch diameter core on their rolls. We even built a little wiggle room into the design so if the tape is wider than 1/4th inch it'll still work. Feel free to modify or change or files if you have a different type of tape.

Supplies Needed:

Conductive Tape Roll such as the awesome nylon based Maker Tape

STL files for printing (free downloads)

Tools:

3D Printer

Your hands

As mentioned before, the most common type of copper foil or nylon conductive tape is a 1/4th inch (6mm) wide roll. Usually these have a 3 inch diameter plastic or cardboard core on them. If you've ever bought a kit that comes with conductive tape you most likely have this type in a length of 5, 10, or 20 meters.

Our design addresses two main issues: Keeping the tape from unraveling or the roll from falling off the side (on larger rolls).

To address this first issue we use a simple 'leg' that the tape goes through. Move the leg towards the tape roll to keep the tape tight, move it the other direction to make things loose.

To address the second issue we added some 'wings' and an optional 'foot'. These are the large triangle wings on the side which prevent larger tape rolls from sliding off their cores. The optional foot does the same thing, but prevents the tape from sliding off in the opposite direction. The foot can rotate to easily get tape rolls on and off the holder.

We also make a 1/8th inch version of the same tape for use on LEGO with our Crazy Circuits System. We occasionally run into the same problems as with our 1/4th inch version. This version is nearly identical to the smaller 1/4th inch holder.

We tweaked the file so that the rim was lower and the hole on the arm was smaller. Works just as well as the other versions.

We're using an Ender 3D printer with PLA plastic and a heated bed for printing. We're using standard Hatchbox PLA which we bought off amazon. The prints require no supports and we print them with a 20% infill.

The smaller 1.5 inch core holders take a full hour of time to print off both parts together.

The larger 3 inch core holders take about an hour and a half (or so) to do all three parts.

We've printed off about 500 of our 1.5 inch diameter core holders and have only had a couple of failed prints. They should print fine off any model printer using any type of filament. Overall it's a very simple and quick print to run a bunch of. It should also be quite simple to modify as well if you're using other tape sizes or want to do some fun embellishments.