Filament guide, made to fit your frame

Tell us what it goes on — the edge of a sheet or panel, measured with a calliper, or a 2020 aluminium extrusion — and which filament you run, and we cut a clip that pushes over the edge with a ring out to one side for the filament to run through. The hole runs along the edge, with a small bevel at each end. It prints on its side, with no supports.

What you need before you start

What it will take

What it fits on: 2 to choose from
Sheet thickness: 0.5–30 mm
Filament it guides: 2 to choose from
Guide hole: 1.5–8 mm
Hole distance from the edge: 3–80 mm
Jaw length: 4–40 mm
Width along the edge: 4–40 mm
Wall: 1–6 mm
Nozzle size: 5 to choose from
Filament you print it in: 4 to choose from

As it comes

Gap between the jaws, as drawn3.1 mm

Guide hole, as drawn3 mm

Hole centre from the edge12 mm

Filament, roughly2.4 g

Build plate: 27 mm as it comes, never more than 256 mm.

What you need to hand

A calliper for the sheet or panel it goes on, or a 2020 extrusion.
Which filament you run: 1.75 or 2.85 mm.
How far out from the edge you want the filament to run.
Your nozzle size and the filament you will print it in.

What it goes on

The edge of a sheet or panel, measured with a calliper, or a 2020 aluminium extrusion. On a 2020 the thickness is not used.

What it fits on

The edge of a sheet or panel, or a 2020 aluminium extrusion. On a 2020 the sheet thickness below is not used: the gap is drawn for 20 mm, with a key that sits in the slot.

Sheet thickness

Measure the sheet or panel where the guide goes, with a calliper. We draw the gap between the jaws to it, plus the fit clearance.

The filament and the guide

The filament you run, how wide the guide hole is and how far out from the edge it sits. If a choice does not work we say the nearest one that does.

Filament it guides

The filament that runs through the guide hole.

Guide hole

How wide the hole the filament runs through is drawn. Printed holes come out a little small, so we need it at least 0.7 mm over the filament.

Hole distance from the edge

How far out from the edge of the sheet the centre of the guide hole sits.

The clip

How far the jaws reach over the edge, how wide the clip is along it and how thick its walls are.

Jaw length

How far the jaws reach over the sheet, from its edge.

Width along the edge

How wide the guide is along the edge. It is also how tall it prints, lying on its side.

Wall

How thick the jaws, the back and the ring round the hole are.

The printer it will come off

Set these to the nozzle you will print with and the filament you will print it in. The nozzle decides whether the walls come out the way we drew them; the filament only sets the weight estimate.

Nozzle size

The nozzle you will print with. It does not change the model — it decides whether the walls come out the way we drew them.

Filament you print it in

Sets the weight estimate. It does not change the model.

Finer adjustments

Fit clearance

How much wider than the sheet the gap is drawn. Printed gaps come out a little narrow; 0.1 mm gives a push-on fit. Below zero it is drawn tighter than the sheet.

Bevel on the hole

A 45° bevel on both ends of the guide hole, so the filament runs in and out without a sharp edge.

More for the workshop

Filament end clip
A push-on clip for the spool rim that keeps the loose end of the filament from unwinding.
What you need A calliper for the spool rim, and your filament size.
Try your numbers
Desiccant core
A silica-gel core for the hole in your spool, cut to the spool and to the beads you bought.
What you need A calliper for the hole in the middle of the spool and the width of the spool beside it, and the bead size on your bag of silica gel.
Try your numbers
Remaining-filament gauge
A flat gauge that reads the grams and metres left on your spool, with a scale worked out from your spool.
What you need A ruler or calliper for an empty spool, a new one and its label, and your nozzle size.
Try your numbers