FilaWinder

This is a much more refined version of my winder for spooling home made filament. The filament drops from the extruder (ideally mounted vertically) and loops back up to the winder. At the bottom of the loop is a row of photocells with a laser shining on them. The photocells track the location of the filament's shadow and modify the speed of the spool to keep it in the same place, usually +/- about 2mm.

The filament passes through a 360 degree loop of PTFE tubing which adds just enough friction that the filament will be pulled tight as it winds on to the spool. When it comes out of the PTFE tube the filament passes through a guide operated by a servo, which spreads it across the width of the spool.

There is a switch to change between auto mode, (speed controlled by the sensors), and manual mode (speed controlled by the knob). When holding down the left button, the knob will move the guide to position it at its left limit, and the right button will do the same for the right l