<p>If the question is "has anyone seen..." my answer is yes. It's not precisely what you show in the drawings, but close enough and for the same purpose.</p>

<p>In the case of a Robo3D R1+ printer, replacing the stock "hexagon" hot end with an E3Dv6 hot end provides for a piece of PTFE tubing inserted into the heat sink. The recommendation from the denizens of the 'net is to slice the top of the tubing in the shape you have in the drawing and to have the tubing extend sufficiently to reach the junction of the hob gear and pinch roller. This took some doing, but I was able to get an appropriate taper to the tubing end that does not contact the moving parts.</p>

<p>As the fed-in filament exits the assembly, the small gap between the wheels and the tubing gives the filament nowhere else to go but into the heat sink and hot end.</p>

<p>As your design reference indicates a 3D printed part, it might be practical to engineer into that segment a larger hole to take the PTFE tubing and then size the length after the wheels are in place.</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3os2W.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3os2W.png" alt="PTFE Guide"></a></p>

<p>The above image shows the added PTFE tubing surrounding the filament. Even though the slightly diagonal cut appears somewhat as a cone, it is not. The edges are parallel to the rollers/hob gear. The lower portion has been omitted for ease of drawing, but would extend into a hole drilled or printed in the block holding the assembly, based on the thingiverse link provided.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-21T00:20:04.670Z
There is a threaded tube with PTFE tube inside of it that ends at the bottom of the block above. So what I think you're suggesting is to get a longer PTFE tube and extend it thru the original block with up to the bottom of gear/pulley.
[Overview image](https://i.sstatic.net/ZYCmt.jpg)
CrossRoads
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-20T22:24:08.487Z
2019-07-21T09:36:58.870Z
2019-07-21T09:36:58.870Z
fred_dot_u
<p>Has anyone seen a printed bottom extruder block with a cone added to get the filament into the hole which then feeds into the metal tube that connects to the heater?
We have a hard time getting coiled filament lined up, the filament curves and takes a lot of twists and tries to get into the hole in the bottom plastic block, and lately we've just taken to removing the fan/heatsink at the end of the servo to guide it in my hand, which is a pain in the butt and likely to wear out screw holes or something eventually.</p>

<p>Hopefully this drawing shows what I mean. </p>

<p>It would be the 10th picture here, with a cone added above the hole at the lower left.
<a href="https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:852591" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:852591</a></p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/r6edl.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/r6edl.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<prusa-i3-rework>
Migbot extruder loading
CrossRoads
# Migbot extruder loading

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-20)

Has anyone seen a printed bottom extruder block with a cone added to get the filament into the hole which then feeds into the metal tube that connects to the heater?
We have a hard time getting coiled filament lined up, the filament curves and takes a lot of twists and tries to get into the hole in the bottom plastic block, and lately we've just taken to removing the fan/heatsink at the end of the servo to guide it in my hand, which is a pain in the butt and likely to wear out screw holes or something eventually.

Hopefully this drawing shows what I mean.

It would be the 10th picture here, with a cone added above the hole at the lower left.
<https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:852591>

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/r6edl.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/r6edl.jpg)

**Tags:** prusa-i3-rework


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-06-20. Score: 1

If the question is "has anyone seen..." my answer is yes. It's not precisely what you show in the drawings, but close enough and for the same purpose.

In the case of a Robo3D R1+ printer, replacing the stock "hexagon" hot end with an E3Dv6 hot end provides for a piece of PTFE tubing inserted into the heat sink. The recommendation from the denizens of the 'net is to slice the top of the tubing in the shape you have in the drawing and to have the tubing extend sufficiently to reach the junction of the hob gear and pinch roller. This took some doing, but I was able to get an appropriate taper to the tubing end that does not contact the moving parts.

As the fed-in filament exits the assembly, the small gap between the wheels and the tubing gives the filament nowhere else to go but into the heat sink and hot end.

As your design reference indicates a 3D printed part, it might be practical to engineer into that segment a larger hole to take the PTFE tubing and then size the length after the wheels are in place.

[![PTFE Guide](https://i.sstatic.net/3os2W.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/3os2W.png)

The above image shows the added PTFE tubing surrounding the filament. Even though the slightly diagonal cut appears somewhat as a cone, it is not. The edges are parallel to the rollers/hob gear. The lower portion has been omitted for ease of drawing, but would extend into a hole drilled or printed in the block holding the assembly, based on the thingiverse link provided.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: There is a threaded tube with PTFE tube inside of it that ends at the bottom of the block above. So what I think you're suggesting is to get a longer PTFE tube and extend it thru the original block with up to the bottom of gear/pulley. [Overview image](https://i.sstatic.net/ZYCmt.jpg)  

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