On/Off switches for Spooler

I'm going to be building Lyman's Spool Winder to go with my Filastruder . Rather than wind up the filament off the floor, or try to get the uptake speed to exactly match the extrusion speed, I want to use a pair of switches to turn the spooler on and off. As the filament coming out of the extruder begins to droop, it would hit a limit switch that turns on the spooler. As it is spooled, the filament will rise up until it hits an upper limit switch, turning off the spooler.

I can follow directions and put together kits, but I don't really have enough electronics knowledge to design this aspect on my own- Is there a way to use mechanical endstop switches to do this without getting a controller involved? Is there some kind of switch that would work with basic wiring that would take a very light touch? It seems like it would be overkill to add an arduino and write firmware or something just to switch power to a couple of motors on and off.

Mechanical endstop switches would work fine. You can get them from mouser - get the lowest actuation force you can.

I'd recommend trying just one limit switch, on the droop. I'd make a really long lever for it (print one!) which will reduce the actuation force even further (at the expense of some travel). You don't need an arduino, just wire the switch inline with the motor, as long as the switch is normally open (when not depressed).

Designing one is next on my list. I just haven't had time yet, with getting FIlastruder kits out and optimizing motors/bearings.