Top Mounted Spool Holder for Aluminum Extruded 3D Printer Frames

I recently overhauled my Tronxy XY-2 Pro and replaced the bowden extruder and separate hotend with a direct drive kit, and my previous spool mount that was attached to the lower frame was not going to work effectively with the direct drive extruder.  I needed to move the spool holder assembly up high, but I don't care for those obnoxious looking Ender 3 style spool holders that mount to the top of the frame.  I like the look and feel of the spool holder setup on my Anet A8 and wanted something similar for Ender 3 style machines I've upgraded with direct drive extruders.  Having made similar upgrades to my Anet A8 Plus, and liking the function of the spool holder I made for the Tronxy, I decided to adapt that design to work with the A8 Plus.

Since this mount attaches to an aluminum frame with actual screw hardware, there are fewer pieces necessary for the installation.  Where my Anet A8 mount required two spool tubes for getting around the elevated display,  If your printer is a 1 in, 1 out, single extruder machine, this mount requires only 1 tube, 2 arms, and 1 joiner and 1 endcap to sit in the arms.  Similarly, if you've got a dual setup, this design requires 2 tubes, 3 arms, 2 end caps and 1 joiner.  Note:  The reason for using the “joiner” piece is that the endcap will only fit the end without the shoulder, so the side of the tube that has the shoulder gets the joiner.  Both endcap and joiner seat in the saddles of the arms the same, so the orientation of the tube doesn't matter.

I've included the two filament guides I'd designed for my A8 Plus's top mounted spool configuration, both short and tall.  Use either or neither, depending on what option best meets your needs.

Each part prints easily as oriented in the STL's, and only the joiner will need supports, which are easily removed by selecting supports to buildplate only.

For smooth and even spool motion, I highly recommend the use of a spool adapter that will fit a 30mm spool mount.  I'm currently using a universal adapter that, thus far, has fit every spool I've put on any of my 11 machines and was designed specifically to fit the 30mm tube included with this mount.  That model is available at:  https://www.printables.com/model/515029-improved-universal-spool-adapter-for-fdm-printers

You'll notice from the photo's that I'm using a dual spool setup with a single extruder machine.  I found it quite handy for filament swaps using the dual spool configuration on the Tronxy, so I repeated that configuration when I made this for the A8 Plus.