MakerFarm 8" Prusa i3v Enclosure

[gmay3]

RobH2, thanks for all the replies. I just printed my first calibration cube and what you say is true, I really need to wait a while and gain more 3d printing experience to design this enclosure properly!

[RobH2]

I think that is wise.

Alright, the first cube. Exciting eh? Now you are on your way. We look forward to a few updates on how it's going.

[clough42]

Just stumbled across this thread...

I have been thinking about a heated enclosure for a while, and I think the biggest challenge you will have is actually overheating the extruder motor so it softens the extruder plastic and droops. I have found that the motor needs a fan in ambient room temperatures, and I expect keeping it cool will be a challenge in a heated enclosure.

I also didn't see anyone else mention that you may not want the sloped front. Keep in mind that you'll be building parts on the bed, and anything tall at the front of the bed may hit the door.

I'm very interested to see how this works out. I'd love to be able to use the whole 8x8 glass for a long build without warping.

[AbuMaia]

I've had a different design in mind: curtains. It'll take two rods bent into a square-ish U shape, 14 inches wide and 12 inch long arms. The ends of the arms will be connected to the V Slot extrusion, one rod at the top of the printer above max Z, and one at the bottom, just above the Z motors. Attach a length of cloth or plastic or whatever to the rods so it surrounds the front of the print area and closes off the top, and attach another piece to the angled edges of the back of the frame to close off the back. Simple, once I figure out what to use for the rods, or whether to print a set. It'll keep all the electronics and motors out of the "enclosure", except for the extruder motor, and that can be fixed by using a bowden extruder.

[gmay3]

Hey that's a cool idea, I'm having a little trouble visualizing the curtain aspect of your idea but that sounds pretty neat!

I am interested making a much lighter version of what I had done already and potentially incorporating a compartment for the power supply.

My biggest challenge is getting the filament spool in there without adding a hole in top of the enclosure. I'd like to keep the filament spool inside the enclosure so the whole thing is more compact. I know Makerbot has a spool on the back which I've been previously advised against doing. I'm not sure why this works for Makerbot and wouldn't work for us! If anyone has alternative spool locations/configurations running into their Makerfarm printer right now, I'd definitely be interested in hearing about it!

[HSV]

This is my baby in a box. This was a flatpack under sink cupboard W:600 H:720 L:560mm from a local hardware store. The front is just an acrylic sheet attached to soft close drawer rails. I have also used a 12v 90mm fan for a fume extractor attached to a 90mm elbow and a flexible duct out the window. Does the job well but still needs a bit of work.
IMG_1383.jpg

[gmay3]

Wow HSV, that looks great! I really like your implementation of the elbow and 90mm fan and especially the super slick acrylic door on drawer rails. Great ideas!

Out of curiosity, what still needs work?

Also have you noticed that there is any draft from the exhaust interfering with your prints?

I see the air comes in from the opening in the back/top. With the exhaust running during a print, how hot does the inside usually get?

[RobH2]

HSV, first of all hello and welcome to the forum. I see this is your first post. We look forward to your participation.

The enclosure looks good. Did you build it because you were having issues with prints or did you just want a vent for fumes, or both. If you built it to help solve print problems with lift and warp can you tell us a bit about your decision to build it. And finally, please do report back and let us know how well it solved the problems you built it to solve. As you know, it's all about "solutions." I'd personally like to track how well your design solves problems.

[HSV]

Hi RobH2 and gmay3,

First up I should say this was a very quick project. The problem was a wife complaining of the ABS smell after the first couple of prints. So a quick trip to the local hardware with some measurements and this was the easiest and quickest solution.
The only prints I did before the box was a spare extruder so I cant really see a huge difference. I still see warping with bigger prints from time to time.
I haven't been bothered to measure the temperature in the box, but im guessing it is sitting aroud the 40C mark during longer prints. I will get around to measuring it one day. I did have to upgrade the fan as a normal computer fan didn't clear the fumes well enough. The new fan works wel but is very noisey so may have to look into another solution.

The top is also covered in acrylic to seal it in. The only gaps are around the top and bottom of the front door. These are caused by the space the drawer rails being attached to the front of the cabinet. I want to seal in the bottom gap better to minimize airflow over the print area.
The cabinet came with feet/stands which leave enough room under the cabinet for me to hide the ATX power supply. Ive also just mounted a fan speed controller under there and last night printed a switch pannel to make it easier to turn things on and off (printer, LEDs, fans etc)
I will try and post some more prints tonight after work.

Cheers
HSV

[gmay3]

Ok so I'm going to up my game and start contributing to this thread!

I am determined to relocate the spool in a more compact way. This needs to be solved before anything else. Once this is done I will restart the design of the enclosure based on this new and improved, more compact volume. I want to be able to pick the enclosed printer up and have everything be in one piece that I can transport.

The first thing I'm going to try is to move the location of the spool behind the printer so that the that from the front, the spool appears to be a circle which is tangent to both the top of the printer and the left sides of the printer.

I'm also kicking around the idea of it being sideways on bearings in thin drawer underneath which the printer can rest on top of.

Makerbot seems to do a back mounted spool only because they have a bowden tube that guides the filament right out of the spool and curves it around to the top. I ordered a PTFE tube to try this out to see if its possible to reroute the spool without any issues and will update once that once it's working.