Step three in my 3D print design process has yielded a beautiful result! I was fascinated with a spindle printed in flexible filament I found at the fiber festival and asked my printer if he had flexible filament. He had a better idea: PETG. This is a plastic used for water bottles and is very sturdy and impact resistant. Done in clear it also has a sheen almost like calcite. So pretty! It is easy to sand and shape as well. I sent a new design to be printed.

I took some Shetland wool roving with me to pick up the spindle, then sat at my favorite coffee shop and spun while sipping a gingerbread latte. Yum.

The cop of yarn I spun slid off the spindle easily. I did use some 400 grit sand paper to take down some of the printing artifacts inside the channel and holes. The spindle is very light, so my printer suggested putting weights in the cavity I designed. Brilliant. I found some long square tube beads that fit down inside. The little bit of extra weight helped it spin better, and is adjustable! Nice. I prefer square weighs, so if they escape they don’t go rolling everywhere.

I like this version, but I have some tweaks to the design for the next round. Eventually I will have to do a destructive test, and drop my pretty spindle on the ground. But I’ll wait a bit.

A shout out to my printer, X of all Trades, and the best coffee shop out there, The Full Cup, without whom I wouldn’t have found someone to make 3D prints!