Extension Cord Rolling and Storage System Using Old Filament Spools

For the storage contest, I have decided to create a storage system that both helps me use old 3d printing spools and also helps me fix my mess of extension cords. I have stored things like christmas lights on spools as well and really liked it. I currently have a massive pile of tangled up and dirty extension cords.

A FDM 3d printer. I used an ender 3v2, but any basic printer should work!

A computer capable of using slicer program and with internet access to use tinkercad (or a comparable site).

Old filament spools. All of my measurements will be based around GST3D and IIIDMAX spools, but the same could be used for other brands. You just might have to measure differently.

An old board or surface that you want to mount the spool holders to.

Your best pile of tangled up extension cords

It's better do just go simple with this.

Make a hook and add a screw spot. I also added a 3 mm opening for the screw head to be hidden.

What I did was:

Make a circle

Make a rectangle

make a hole that is 4-6 mms, then a larger one that is 10-15 mms.

Center the 2 holes over the circle. Make sure that the smaller hole does the entire height of the circle and then have the larger hole only go a few MMs down into the circle. Combine the 3 once you know they are centered, then combine the rectangle you made.

Make a small rectangle to go perpendicular to the end opposite of the holes that you just made and then one that goes perpendicular to that (or parallel to the main rectangle). Combine it all and rotate the object 90 degrees to look like my picture. This will prevent needing supports when printing.

Start by taking a copy of the wall holder that you just made and hitting the ungroup button. This will allow us to delete the 2 little rectangles. I then hit combine on what is left to have the arm with screw hole and I copy and paste 3 additional arms down.

Next turn one 90 degrees, 1 of them 180 degrees and another -90 degrees to have a cross shape of these arms.

Add and center a circle that will be what you sit the spool on when you're winding up the cords. I did mine roughly 2 inches wide and then added a cone shape to keep the spool centered and off of the very back of the bracket.

Once it is ready, combine everything for your final result of this part.

I measured the distance across my spools to get a measurement for 2 openings on the spool. These openings are where we want to try to attach the handle to for winding. Picture 3 is the gap I am referring to, but other brands of spools could look different.

Make a circle with a hole that is 1-2% larger than the wall holder in order to allow it to pass through.

Then add 2 rectangular arms with perpendicular rectangles that will attach to the spool for easy turning.

The last step is to add a handle for turning. Make a long handle and then add a hole in the middle of that. Make a copy of the hole and turn it to a solid that is half a mm smaller. This will allow for adding it onto the handle for cranking the object.

Once combined, then you are ready to print.

Organize all of the parts that you made onto the tinkercad plate in a way that will make it all fit on the print plate for your printer.

Export the file and open it up in your slicer. I use Cura, so the picture is cura. Because these will need to handle weight, I am printing them with a little more infill than normal at 40% and am using a gyroid pattern, because I like how it holds up to weight.

Get your printer prepped and a color of your choice loaded on and start the print!

Here are the 2 files that I made. They will fit on an ender 3 or comparable. It will produce 4 total hangers and 1 reel.

I predrilled holes and just used 1 inch screws to mount the parts on there. The spool holder for the actual process of winding up the cords has 4 spots for screws. Install it first wherever you would like, but I am a fan of symmetry, so I mounted mine in the middle.

Then add your spool holding hooks to whatever surface you would like to store them on. Predrill the holes first to prevent the plastic from cracking. PLace as many of these hangers as you would like. I did 4.

Start by taking your handle and then adding it onto the spool. Next take one of the cord ends and tucking it into one of the handle arms that is holding the spool. (see picture 1)

Slide the spool and the handle onto the mounted holder (picture 2) then add the final piece of the handle to it all (picture 3). When you have this set up, you can begin spinning the handle to wind your extension cord up around the spool. use one hand to turn the handle and one hand to steady the cord as it winds around the spool. Once the cord is all the way wound, you can gingerly remove the handle from the spool and then hang the wound spoon on one of the hangers and move on to the next.

Optional: They have STLs for little clips that you can print to hold a cord on a spool, but I found that just hanging the spool using the correct opening allows the cord to hang freely and not need clipped on. (see picture 4)

Once you're done, put your handle assembly back on the mounted shaft and be done until you need it again. To unwind them in the future, you can hand the wound spools back on the middle bracket and pull the cord until it is neatly removed and ready to use.