Home made take up reel $20 or less

[sfr table hockey]

Finally got a chance to make up a crude version of a take up reel. It will actually let you roll your material up and back it off if your printer happens to pre feed and rewind before print.

The tube to roll the media onto is 7" diameter and the gravity feed weight is a 10 lb weight. For a drop ( the distance the weight will move) of less than 2 feet you can roll up over 30 feet of media. If you want more just make the drop a bit higher.

This is a very crude prototype but I just wanted to see if it would work like I thought. I just was not sure how much weight it would take to roll the material and not cause too much pull. In fact there is very little pull on the media and this might even work with a cut after print.

I hope I added the photos the propper way.

 

[sfr table hockey]

How to mount media to take up

Quick question. What is the normal way that you mount media to the take up reel? Do you just tape it to the core?

So far for the one I made, I used an old chunk (4 ft) of banner to tape solid to the take up reel and then the other end is just taped to the media you are using. This way you don't have to wait for the media to reach the take up reel before you mount it to it or waste media by rolling out to reach the take up reel.

 

[scotto]

Neat idea.

We tape the media to our cardboard roll.

 

[Bill43mx]

Well done! I like the banner "leader' idea also. Usually I just wait until there's enough material printed to reach the tube and then tape it.

 

[sfr table hockey]

Thanks for both of your input. So far from what both you said and reading up on Rolands take up reels, I guess using tape is the main method of attaching media to the take up reel. Actually does seem to be the easiest way to line up as well and not leave a lump on the reel.

 

[GAC05]

That is pretty clever,
I think the ancient Egyptians used something similar on their wide format printers.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[sfr table hockey]

That is pretty clever,
I think the ancient Egyptians used something similar on their wide format printers.

wayne k
guam usa

Hmmm... do you think they had a patent on it.......

The funny thing about this is that it seems to work real well.

 

[sfr table hockey]

Didn't mean to do it

Interesting thing..... I was printing off a color chart and was trying out the take up reel. It was not that long of a run but I just wanted to test it out. I forgot I had the print and cut feature on and the color chart had a cut line all around it which I had forgot. I was watching the last of the print to my surprise the cut started and the CJ 500 did the high speed rewind to do the cut and then out fed it and back down the other side.

I did not intent to test this feature but it's great to know it will do it.

I am not sure if there is a take up reel on the market that lets you pull the media back off the reel and rewind as it does a cut.