Part of the Week — Tony Nutile’s Extra Spool and Rack for Tools

Tony Nutile is the leader of Mark One printer support at Markforged. He spends a lot of time printing, both to troubleshoot problems and to test software and hardware updates. This gave him two problems to solve, a need to have a convenient empty spool for testing different continuous carbon fiber samples and a place to keep the most-used tools for his Mark One.

Tony fired up TinkerCAD to create solutions to those two problems:

1. A nylon spool for testing small amounts of continuous carbon fiber, Kevlar TM and fiberglass.

1. A tiny tool rack for holding the most used Mark One tools: the glue stick, tweezers, allen wrench and leveling shims

The nylon spool is 100 mm diameter by 21 mm. It functions as a spare spool, mostly used for testing new runs of fiber but also as a way of creating some visual symmetry with the other composite material wheel.

The tool rack sees heavy use as Tony tends to turn-out two or three parts a day. It holds the most used tools; the glue stick for preparing the bed before every print. The tweezers for removing support material. The allen wrench and shims for completing the leveling process. Keeping the tools front and center also reminds Tony to keep his bed glued and true.

The tool caddy is reinforced with carbon fiber. Notice how the software is updating the slices to optimize the carbon reinforcement. The other tooltip is recommending settings to use to optimize the print to maintain tiny features with dimensional accuracy.

You can also see the accessory set on Thingiverse.

Specifications

Spare SpoolSize 100mm x 100mm x 21mmEstimated Print Time ~24h 0minNylon Cost ~$3.10

Tony’s Tool BarSize 160.5mm x 78mm x 32.29mmEstimated Print Time ~2h 32minNylon Cost ~$1Carbon Fiber Cost ~$2