# Specific 3D Printers, Scanners, & Hardware > RepRap Format Printer Forum > MakerFarm Forum >  MakerFarm 8" Prusa i3v Enclosure

## gmay3

Hello everyone!

This is my first post here. I've been researching 3d printers for a few months now and finally decided last week to preorder the MakerFarm 8" Prusa i3v. While I wait for it to arrive, I'm going to design an enclosure for mainly fume extraction and secondarily for a heated build chamber to improve print quality.

I'm making this post to capture my enclosure design process and then share the plans when it's complete! 

Any feedback or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! If anyone wanted to work together to design this with me, a set of dimensions would be much appreciated!  :Big Grin: 

1524618_10152347084469913_1144404177_n.jpg

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## old man emu

You forgot the hole for the filament to come into the enclosure and go to the extruder. 

I'd make sure that I could locate the spool of filament conveniently to the printer.

Otherwise, OK!

Old Man Emu

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## RobH2

Glad to see you are getting the Makerfarm. I think you'll like it. I would suggest you wait to build the enclosure until after you have it built so you can measure things. Keep on designing it but if you build it beforehand it's likely you wish you had waited as some detail will get overlooked. 

I've also posted an image with a few suggestions that might be helpful. Post a photo of the housing when it's done. We'd like to see it. 

Untitled-1.jpg

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## DrLuigi

In my own design well just a cube, with a acrlic door that can be pulled up, I would always be able to remove the door, Or put a piece between the door and the piece of steel,
So it wouldnt become to warm, i would do something about that for just in case that it gets to hot and your wood would start warping.

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## gmay3

Wow, thank you so much for all your replies! 

This is great feedback. I am definitely going to wait until I build the printer before buying materials for the enclosure. 

I'm planning to model a general concept in 3d this week and will post an updated 3d model soon. That way I can easily adjust the dimensions before I build it. 

Have you guys had problems with the makerfarm laser cut wood warping?

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## DrLuigi

Well i didnt, But thats also when using under normal enviorements,

When you do it in a enclosure and your heatbed is on to 110, It might warp as the chamber might get hot,

I aint totaly sure as i don't have one yet, its still in the make, But if its ready i have a door wich i can easily control how much would be kept open, for fresh air.

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## bteeter

I also have purchased a 8" i3v printer which I am waiting with baited breath (old fish story).  My concern about the enclosure is the heating of the electronics.  The stepper motors can take the low level heat from the heated printing glass but the Arduino and Ramps 1.4 boards might not like it a lot.  It might be better to create an enclosure that allows the electronics to be moved on the outside either the back or under it.  We would also need to move the power supply outside.

Bob

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## RobH2

I haven't heard of any wood warping issues with the Makerfarm. I use two aluminum clip lamps with 200w bulbs on either side of mine and then tent foamcor around everything to create a really warm envelope around the print. I've had no problems with the electronics or wood. I plan to build an enclosure but have had such good luck with the clip lights that I haven't had the motivation to do it differently. 

Most modern electronics can operate in hotter ambient temps than you'd expect. I'd guess that it would take more than 110C to cause major malfunctions. There is the possibility that extreme heating of the components can shorten the life of the electronics. Thermal expansion and contraction is the enemy of electronics. There are number of people who say that if you never turn your computer off, it will run about 3 times longer than if you turn it off daily. There is some merit in that and it's due to thermal expansion. So, if you heat the RAMPS up a lot and then it cools, it's hard on it. But how hard it relative. If it cuts its lifespan from 5-years to 4-years it may be a moot point. I bet none of us have the same printer we have now in 3 years. The technology is changing too fast.  I suspect that when I finally build an enclosure, that I'll move the electronics outside of it just for the heck of it,  but someone out there may know for sure if that's unnecessary.

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## gmay3

It's good to hear that there haven't been many warping issues!

I'm working on the 3D model now of the enclosure now, about 50% done. Look for a finished model to critique on Friday!  :Big Grin: 

So far I'm planning to have the power supply external but it's good that you mention putting the RAMPS board external as well. I think that's a good idea. 

I want to put the LCD outside so moving the RAMPS board outside would actually solve a lot of my design problems! Now I wont need a ribbon cable extension. Thanks bteeter!

As far as extreme heat goes, I'm planning on having active cooling with a very slight airflow running through the front or sides of the case and exiting the case through the back side corner and then out through an exhaust vent from my clothes dryer. I'm hoping it wouldn't get too hot in there but it will definitely be hotter than room temperature.

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## gmay3

Ok so here's what I got so far. I would share the google sketchup file but I don't know how to attach it. Here's a few pictures of what I have so far. 

1.jpg2.jpg3.jpg4.jpg5.jpg

The acrylic sheets (translucent blue) are 1/8" thick and held on by 1/4" diameter by 1/16" deep neodymium magnets for easy removal. The door has a hinge across the top which is on a sled that will slide with the door across the top of the enclosure. The sled will be made of acrylic and will be held in place with a L bracket made of acrylic so it slides well without needing bearings or rollers.  The door is 1/4" acrylic and the rest is is 1/4 plywood.

The air duct section uses a 2.75" fan and there are 88, 1/32" wholes drilled through the plywood in a grid pattern to allow even and limited airflow enter the air duct section. This area ratio of the fan opening to the total area of the holes drilled to be about 14:1 so there will good suction present inside the air duct section. This will then connect to a 4" dryer duct that will exit the house. 

To save some cost, I'm thinking of making only the front door and top panel out of acrylic sheet. What do you guys think? Is it useful to be able to see in the sides of your machine?

I have more details to add like weather stripping to seal it in and where I'll be mounting the RAMPS and LCD. Right now I'm thinking of putting them on the top right corner of the wood panel over the air ducting. I'm planning to have a few tops of spice canisters (the kind that allow more spice to flow through the top or none at all as you turn their top plate) to the outside so I can allow none or a variable amount of air into the front, bottom, or sides of the enclosure too allow airflow.

Hope you guys have a great weekend!  :Big Grin:

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## 1stage

I got mine on Saturday (4/5/14) and am about half way through assembly and set-up.

For your enclosure, consider the option that you MIGHT eventually want to increase the Y axis with longer tracks, a longer belt, bigger platform (and heated bed), and Y carriage.

Given that, maybe go with just a large box enclosure minus the slant on the front. Maybe instead go for doors on the sides, held in place by magnets?

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## RobH2

It's coming along and looking good. The only thing I see that might cause a problem is that the hinged door doesn't look like it will fold back and lie on the top when you open it. It looks like the too/rear edge will hit the top surface when the door is a little past horizontal. It will be awkward to have to hold it or to create something to hold it up. Plus you'll have to reach under it all the time when going "in." I think a piano hinge might be a better plan for the front door. That way you can open it and lay it back on the top surface, out of the way.

You bring up something I've wondered about. If you have a fan pulling air through, even slowly, wouldn't be drawing a draft through the housing? That's what you are trying to prevent to minimize part warping. I don't have a housing and have never used one but I have wondered about it as I consider designing my own housing. Even passive venting at the top somewhere invites a draft because as the warm air exits, something is coming in from somewhere to replace it. I'd imagine that the "something" is cold air from around the bottom edges which are open. Maybe it's not a problem to have a  small draft if the bulk of the air inside is nice and warm. I'd be happy to hear from someone who knows the answer. 

Personally, I'd rather spend the extra money and have a view from the side. But, it's not necessary. There are times though as I watch a print that I move from side to side to see the area I need to. I can't always tell from the front if things are going well. Also, it can get pretty dark in there. The clear sides will let a bit more light in. Even with no housing I use a flashlight sometimes to view my prints. If the cost of the extra acrylic is just too much for you then you at least put two small, hinged metal doors on either side. At least you could then raise one and peek in for a few seconds. 

Nice looking though. Post finished photos...

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## gmay3

1stage, thanks for the suggestion, I hadn't thought of that!




> It's coming along and looking good. The only thing I see that might cause a problem is that the hinged door doesn't look like it will fold back and lie on the top when you open it. It looks like the too/rear edge will hit the top surface when the door is a little past horizontal. It will be awkward to have to hold it or to create something to hold it up. Plus you'll have to reach under it all the time when going "in." I think a piano hinge might be a better plan for the front door. That way you can open it and lay it back on the top surface, out of the way.


RobH2, thanks for your reply. After some research at Lowe's  :Wink:  I actually did replace the two hinges with one single piano hinge in a more current drawing. 

I want to apologize for the quality of the drawing pictures, I don't think it makes the door movement too obvious. Currently I see the action of the door movement in 2 steps:

1. Pull the door up so that it is level with the top of the enclosure (parallel to the ground). This will be achieved by the piano hinge.

2. Push the door straight back to the back of the enclosure so the handle ends up in the place the hinge used to be. The piano hinge is mounted on a flat maybe 2" long sheet of wood or acrylic, I'm calling this piece "The Sled" and it's red in the previous screen shot of my drawing. The Sled will be resting on the top of the enclosure and will be held down by an L shaped pieced of wood or acrylic which will allow the sled to travel smoothly (hopefully) without lifting off the top of the enclosure. The sled will travel on the top from the front of the enclosure to the back of the enclosure.

So the final resting place of the door will be on top of the enclosure and to close the door again, I would pull the door so the sled is back in the front completely. Then I would lower the door using the hinge once its back in position.

Yes, I'm not sure about the venting part of the case. I think I'll try it (FOR SCIENCE!) but if anyone has experience with this it would much appreciated. It would be much easier to seal it up while printing, and I could always wait until the print is done until turning on the fume extraction fan. I think that might work?  :Big Grin: 

I'm still trying to think about where to put the RAMPS and LCD if I put them outside of the case. Think think think. And the location of the spool, I'm thinking on the side, mounted so that the flat side of the spool would be parallel to the side of the enclosure to save space.

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## RobH2

I see how the door works now. Nice solution, I like it. 

If you put your electronics outside the enclosure then you'll have to address how to lift the enclosure off of the printer. The wires will all have to run to the bottom edge and out. What's the issue with leaving the board inside in it's normal place? The elevated heat isn't going to affect anything. Electronics can generally operate at pretty warm temps without issue. That way all you have is one bundle of wires running out to the Power Supply. 

I like your experiment for "Science." Nice...

Think hard about and test the filament location. You don't want the extruder to be pulling on the filament too hard because it will lift your hot end. If the spool is on the side the filament will be being pulled sideways over the edge of the spool and there will be added friction. The filament works best when if freely travels from the spool straight to the extruder without any turns or without touching anything. A rod above the case hanging from the ceiling or mounted to and offset from a wall might we worth exploring. You don't want that extruder to have to tug on the filament any more than it already has to. If the spool is turned 90-degrees and the feed direction points towards the center of the enclosure that might just work. You'll still have to address the turn because you have to go up high enough to then come down through a hole over the extruder. 

This would change your design and add cost but what about having the enclosure high enough so that the spool could be inside over the printer? That would have the added benefit of drying the filament out while it prints from the heat. We all know that while we are printing for several days in a row our filament is sitting there sucking in moisture. Then we have to eventually go dry the stuff. What if the act of printing was actually a filament dryer at the same time? Not a bad idea to at least pursue. 

Looking forward to seeing your final resolution.

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## gmay3

Thanks!

I was initially worried about heat and the electronics and stepper motors but maybe that won't be an issue after all. I think its going to help a lot once I get my printer fully assembled and start printing!

Understood about the filament spool. I'll have to rethink about what to do. Unfortunately I am restricted in space where I'm going to be putting the printer and I only have about 2 to 3 inches above the top of the i3v's LCD housing. I'm putting the printer under a shelf that's a little lower than I'd like. I'm renting a house right now or else that would not be a problem.  :Wink: 

There is a chance I would be able to mount the filament spool above the printer enclosure in the shelf above it. The solution to this problem might just be that I need to move the shelf up.

I didn't know filament had an issue with moisture. What effect does it have? Do you store your filaments in an airtight container when its not in use?

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## RobH2

I do store my filaments is a 5-gallon bucket that has desiccant in it to absorb moisture. The bucket is a Gamma Lid (look at them on Amazon). I have a professional hygrometer in there and it stays around 1.5% humidity. It might be lower but hygrometers have a hard time measuring really low humility. You don't need the meter. I already had it so I put it to good use. 

How I actually store each roll is like this. I purchased some 9" x 6" mesh bags and 5 lbs. of commercial desiccant It looks like translucent blue plastic BB's. It's neat and clean because it doesn't create powder or break up. When it's full of water it turns clear and that's a nice indicator. You just bake it in the oven for an hour and it's ready to go again. I put a few cups of desiccant in the mesh bag and close it off. Then I put one of those mesh bags in a 2-gallon Ziploc with the filament and squeeze out excess air. That way the desiccant is only removing moisture from a small amount of air. It's more efficient that way and keeps me from having to dryout my reusable desiccant all the time. Then, I put 3 or 4 rolls, each in their own Ziploc (along with desiccant mesh bag) into the bucket. The bottom of the bucket has one of those mesh bags too that it pulls the moisture out of the bucket air. What this does is allow me to open the bucket and remove any filament I need without adding any moist air to the other rolls because they are all individually protected. Then when I close it, the only work that has to be done is for that mesh bag in the bottom of the bucket to remove the moisture in the air again. It may be overkill but it's really simple and easy so why not? It seems to work because I've had no jams since I got my printer and no moisture issues. 

I've always had this setup so I've never had moisture problems. Before I got my printer I was reading alot about them. I kept reading that the filaments absorb moisture and people were going through all kinds of repeated "oven drying" cycles to keep the filament dry. Apparently too much moisture in the filament causes gassing, pops and jams. I've never had any I think due to my initial decision to store in a dry space. Someone else will have to talk about the problems associated with moisture because I have never had to deal with it. Apparently, ABS is really a sponge. Nylon and Pet+ are not as bad from what I read. 

Can you mount a rod inside the cabinet above, crack the door and have the filament spool out from in there? That actually seems kind of cool really. 

I'll be on the lookout for someone else to talk knowledgeably about what a headed enclosure does to stepper motors and RAMPS. I'm just speculating as I don't have an enclosure. So, get some second opinions. But my sense is that you'll be OK. It's not going to get 300-degrees in there. I think if you had a passive (and you do already) vent in the top to let warm air escape, then that's all you need to do and it won't get too hot. You just want it warm enough to cancel out cold drafts that exacerbate warps.

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## gmay3

Oh wow, I didn't realize that humidity could cause jams. I think I'll try to have a setup similar to that I think it will be easier than trying to fit the spool in the enclosure. Plus if I have more than one spool I'll need to keep them dry anyway!

The shelf above my printer is very "homemade" by someone that is not skilled at making things lol. I think some pictures are in order to show you what I'm working with!

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## RobH2

You know what they say: "A picture is worth a 1000 posts." Well, "they" may not say it, but I do...

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## gmay3

Ok so UPDATE, I have removed the shelf so I have about 1 to 1.5 feet of room above the printer. This will allow a redesign to include a spool above the printer. This is gonna be painful to my 3d models but I'll have to redraw them anyway. Here's my plan.

1. Raise the ceiling height of the printer enclosure. This will allow for more room for the spool. I'm currently thinking of having the spool in the "hamburger" orientation. (spool sides parallel to the ground)

2. Lower the air duct section to approximately the middle of the back wall of the enclosure. (lower it to allow space for the spool.)

3. Create a "box" around the spool on the inside of the enclosure to support a spool holder and allow the filament to be guided out to the extruder at a controlled "friendly" angle. Add a lid to the top of the spool box to allow for easy removal and swapping.

Questions:

Should I drill holes in the bottom of the spool box (like the air duct) so that the hot air is able to dry out the spool while printing? Or, should I seal the box as much as possible (except for the filament hole) and add some desiccants to the spool box.

Are spools of filament a standard size for the most part? Could I use my 2.2kg makerfarm spool as a standard dimension for any old spool? (I know there are larger spools that are "double-wide" for lack of a better term. I don't think I would plan on using that much plastic at the moment and would rather have a variety of smaller spools.)

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## RobH2

Sounds like you are making progress. The way to think about 3d modeling and design is never worry that you have to change your design or 3d model. As you get better and faster at modeling it won't be such a big issue. It's much easier to change a 3d model than to build a new housing so get it right before you start cutting anything. I've had designs where I've rebuilt the 3d model a dozen times to get it right. It's hard to be patient when you are excited to get to building but you'll be glad you did if you work out the details before you start making the housing. 

You'll need to try to get some other advice here besides mine too but here are my thoughts:

1. I don't think "hamburger" orientation is good. The filament sometimes expands out on the spool and if the spool is on it's side many turns will fall off and make a jumbled mess. Secondly, the spool on it's side will have a lot of friction unless you get very involved and build turntable or something with smooth bearings in it. The spool really needs to be vertical with a horizontal rod through the spool hole so the filament can be easily pulled from the roll. 

2. Lowering the air duct sounds like it won't cause any issues. 

3. I think you are making things too complex here. It's likely that you'll be swapping filament out as you use different colors or types. It's easy to swap filament so I'd say make the box simple for now. Then a few months from now you are going to have a handful of "things I wish I'd done" concerning the housing. That always happens, and you'll want to modify the housing or build a new one to incorporate your new ideas. 

You know, this is not what you are thinking but maybe you are getting the cart before the horse. Why not print for awhile without a housing? You don't need it right away. It will make getting in to tweak and calibrate cumbersome. Sure, you can always lift it and set it off to the side but why not get the process worked out first and then attack the box when you know the workflow you like. You might be glad you did. I don't have a housing at all and I bought my printer last year. I get a warp now and then but so far the problems have not been severe enough for me to invest the time and money into a housing. I know it's the way to go but for now, I'm ok. I think you might find that's it's prudent to wait, at least until you have the machine calibrated and working consistently well. 

Finally, filament comes on all kinds and sizes of spools. You can never know what it comes on. There is some industry chatter to standardize the spools but it has not gotten much traction yet. So if you build a spool box, do some research and figure out what the largest spools are and make sure that fits.

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## 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!

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## 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.

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## 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.

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## 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.

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## 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!

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## 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

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## 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?

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## 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.

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## 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

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## 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.

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## dacb

That's a great idea.

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## printbus

I checked out the MakerBot feed at MicroCenter one day, and I'm sure that if you do something similar you can put the spool where ever you want and in what ever orientation you want. MakerBot isn't a full Bowden setup - they're just using a tube as a filament guide.   Not a bad idea. Of course, they've probably patented it. 

I think the earlier opinion that a side mounted approach wouldn't work was confusion.  My guess is the thought was you were going to maybe lay the spool flat on the table and pull the filament up around the sides.  Yeah, that wouldn't work for long.  As long as the filament is unrolling from the spool, I bet you'll work out fine.

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## gmay3

> I checked out the MakerBot feed at MicroCenter one day, and I'm sure that if you do something similar you can put the spool where ever you want and in what ever orientation you want. MakerBot isn't a full Bowden setup - they're just using a tube as a filament guide.   Not a bad idea. Of course, they've probably patented it.


Yes exactly, my thought is try that out and see if it will work. Where to end the partial bowden tube is my next decision. I'm not sure if it should end near the top of the printer or go all the way down to the extruder, maybe just a few inches above so changing filament is easier.




> I think the earlier opinion that a side mounted approach wouldn't work was confusion.  My guess is the thought was you were going to maybe lay the spool flat on the table and pull the filament up around the sides.  Yeah, that wouldn't work for long.  As long as the filament is unrolling from the spool, I bet you'll work out fine.


Yes I think you're right. I don't think I described it very well because I didn't even have my printer yet at the time haha. I did mean the second thing you described having the filament unrolling from the spool while the spool rotates on bearings.

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## RobH2

Filament consumes the same footprint no matter where you put it. The one thing that I'd recommend against is mounting it to the top of your printer. A lot of momentum is transferred from its motion as the X-Carriage changes direction. The more stable the frame is around the print, the better the print. Having 2 lbs. shimmying around above the printer will just increase inaccuracies in prints. You may not notice is on large prints or at really slow print speeds, but once you get the print speeds up, you'll start to see shake.

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## gmay3

> Filament consumes the same footprint no matter where you put it. The one thing that I'd recommend against is mounting it to the top of your printer. A lot of momentum is transferred from its motion as the X-Carriage changes direction. The more stable the frame is around the print, the better the print. Having 2 lbs. shimmying around above the printer will just increase inaccuracies in prints. You may not notice is on large prints or at really slow print speeds, but once you get the print speeds up, you'll start to see shake.


Good point RobH2! I didn't think of that. This gives even more motivation for me to get this spool off the top of my frame!

I did a little research this weekend and in addition to putting the spool under the printer, I think another good location would be directly behind the printer, centered and level with the bottom of the LCD mount.

If you look at the back of your printer, there is an angle cut from about halfway up on the frame structure in the back which tapers to the top of the frame where the LCD mounts. My thought is to make the flat side of the spool parallel to this angle, offset about 2-3 inches. This offset gets the spool out of the way of the Y bed for any taller prints.

If this can work out then I'd probably rather do this type of mount for the spool instead of the drawer under the printer. The drawer would add a lot of weight and complexity. Plus I'd have to relocate the sorbothane vibration dampening feet clough42 designed!

Sketches to come!

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## jtice

I happen to have a shelf above my printer which is going to help alot for mounting a spool.
I printed these bearing spool holders so far, then I plan to use these brackets to mount the 8mm rod to the shelf.
This will position the spool directly above the printer. my main reason for doing this was the fact that I have spools that are too wide to fit on the stop spool holder.
Plus I am sure this will be alot smoother, and it gets the spool up high and out of the way.

----------


## gmay3

Here's what I was thinking.

unnamed.jpg

Lol just realized I wrote bowen tube instead of bowden in the picture

----------


## RobH2

I like that idea. There is much less inertia than having the roll on top transferring all of that sideways motion down and amplifying it. Having it on the back keeps a much lower center of gravity and therefore much less chance it will induce unnecessary movement in the whole machine. Send photos once you get it working.

----------


## gmay3

> I like that idea. There is much less inertia than having the roll on top transferring all of that sideways motion down and amplifying it. Having it on the back keeps a much lower center of gravity and therefore much less chance it will induce unnecessary movement in the whole machine. Send photos once you get it working.


Good stuff! I'm looking forward to seeing if it helps out on the quality of my prints, but it's also reassuring to know that my machine won't be subject to all that extra sideways motion for no reason! Will do on the pictures.


I've seen other mounts that are somewhat similar to this except the spool is rotated 90 degrees. I'm planning on trying to make a mount that can be fully 3d printed for simplicity. I'm going to try to utilize existing frame screw shafts that the spool holder could be snapped on to for installation, just like my LED mounting tray.

The filament should feed off the spool by being pulled off the spool up towards the LCD. This will lift the spool while turning it which should reduce the amount of force and friction on the spool holder. I don't think any bearings should be needed because of this. 

I'm thinking that only a short piece of bowden tube will be needed to reduce the friction on the top of the frame.

----------


## printbus

You might also just be able to use a fixed filament guide and not any of the tube.  

How well would this work on the 10-inch printers where the Y-bed moves 2-inches farther to the rear? Seems like that would be more limiting than on the 8-inch printer.  

Just to offer a differing opinion, I've observed no negative aspects of having the spool mounted on top.  Maybe I've just been lucky with the prints I've done with it, but there's been no sideways motion or anything else bad that I've noticed.  Of course, the table I'm using is solid. The wood printer frame is solid.  I've kept weight of the x-carriage under control (no heavy connectors, no bed leveling hardware, no extruder motor fan, no large print cooling shroud). I haven't been overzealous with acceleration settings.  Spools rotate on the mount smoothly - they don't jerk like with the stock mount.

Even if the spool is laying flat on top, it seems like a proper spool mount could keep any jerkiness caused by filament feed to a minimum.

----------


## gmay3

> You might also just be able to use a fixed filament guide and not any of the tube.


Yeah good point! I think that's a good first step, especially since my bowden tube isn't coming in for about a month! I'll have to see what's out there on thingiverse or design my own. My thought is that it would look something like a curved 3D printed tube for the top mounted with a flange or to existing LDC bracket screw shafts.




> How well would this work on the 10-inch printers where the Y-bed moves 2-inches farther to the rear? Seems like that would be more limiting than on the 8-inch printer.


Another good point! I wonder if the 10 inch just moves 2 the bed inches further or if Colin made every part 2 inches bigger and it frame would still be in proportion with the 8". Either way, if anyone with the 10" printer is interested, I think I'll need help to remix everything I do after everything is said and done.

----------


## usarmyaircav

I am in the middle of the build process and just mounted the bed last night.  I would be happy to check\verify anything.

----------


## gmay3

Thanks usarmyaircav! Glad to hear you're making progress with the build! 

Whenever you get your y bed and frame all assembled I think an easy measurement to make first is to push the Y bed all the way to the back towards the back of the frame and then measure how much the y bed sticks out past the back of the frame.

Another measurement to make would be the overall height of the back of the frame.

I'll measure the 8" version and upload a sketch so you can see what I mean!

----------


## usarmyaircav

Here is what I measured last night.
Bed all the way to rear,  1" past  frame
Frame height  18 3/4"
Bed = 10 3/8w x 10 3/8 L  or 264mm x 264mm

----------


## AbuMaia

> Yeah good point! I think that's a good first step, especially since my bowden tube isn't coming in for about a month! I'll have to see what's out there on thingiverse or design my own. My thought is that it would look something like a curved 3D printed tube for the top mounted with a flange or to existing LCD bracket screw shafts.


Here's my take on filament guides: 
http://www.thingiverse.com/make:95614 
http://www.thingiverse.com/make:74923 (second image)  

Resize the clips to 110%, and they'll hold a 4mm OD PTFE tube nicely. The Replicator 2 Quick change piece is full size, with a short piece of 6mm OD tubing to act as an adapter.   Before I got the tubing, however, I used the clips to route the filament directly, as they were designed to do (first image).

----------


## usarmyaircav

gmay3, where did you order your bowden tube from?

----------


## jtice

I ended up mounting my spool up above the printer on a shelf with a bearing holder.
I think it will work out much better, I like that its up out of the way.
http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...ll=1#post29106

----------


## gmay3

usarmyaircav: Thanks for the measurements! As a rough estimate of the 8" dimensions, the bed all the way back actually doesn't go past the back of the frame. The bowden tube was ordered from amazon. This specific link is for use with 1.75mm diameter filament. 
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

AbuMaia: Thanks for the ideas about filament guides! I hadn't thought of having the bowden tube piggy back onto the main wire harness. Have you been printing with these clips installed already?

----------


## AbuMaia

> AbuMaia: Thanks for the ideas about filament guides! I hadn't thought of having the bowden tube piggy back onto the main wire harness. Have you been printing these clips installed already?


  I don't know if I understand your question. Did you mean, have I been printing *with* these clips installed? If so, yes. I've been using them for several months. You'll note in the first image I have them installed on my old MakerFarm 8 inch i3, before I upgraded it to an i3v.

----------


## gmay3

> I don't know if I understand your question. Did you mean, have I been printing *with* these clips installed? If so, yes. I've been using them for several months. You'll note in the first image I have them installed on my old MakerFarm 8 inch i3, before I upgraded it to an i3v.


Yes that is what I meant. Apologies and thanks for reading in my missing word.  :Smile: 

Ah,  I didn't look closely enough and didn't realize it was your printer.  That's pretty cool. The clips make it looks super clean. I wouldn't have thought of that. 

My current plan was  to fix the bowden tube to the top of the frame with maybe an inch or  two extra to allow it to flex at the angles needed to have free motion  along the x axis. This way the filament should never be bending more  than 20-30 degrees and it would be pretty easy to swap out the filament since you'll have access to the several inches of filament above the extruder.

----------


## usarmyaircav

gmay3, that tubing looks like water line tubing.  I will have to check the spare tubing I have to see if it would work.  I was expecting tubing specifically made for 3d printing.  Probably should have known better.  Rather like when I was active duty Army, and would send new recruits out looking for an A.S.H. receiver for the helicopters, or send them to supply to get some rotor wash.  :Smile:

----------


## printbus

In a true Bowden setup, you would use tubing that is pretty specific, with an ID just larger than the filament you are using and PTFE in order to minimize friction and possibly tolerate any heat soaking up from the hot end.  Here, tubing is just being used as a guide so just about anything can be used, including the icemaker tubing which I believe is usually polyethylene.

The difference with a full Bowden setup is that the extruder drive motor is located away from the extruder, with filament being pushed and pulled through the tubing. You want as little slop in the fit of the filament in the tubing in order to maintain good control over the extrusion.  Here, the extruder motor is still on the extruder, you're just pulling the filament through the tubing, and any loose fit in the tubing makes no difference.

----------


## gmay3

> gmay3, that tubing looks like water line tubing.  I will have to check the spare tubing I have to see if it would work.  I was expecting tubing specifically made for 3d printing.  Probably should have known better.  Rather like when I was active duty Army, and would send new recruits out looking for an A.S.H. receiver for the helicopters, or send them to supply to get some rotor wash.


Haha yeah, RepRap folks will re-purpose anything for use with 3D printing! The Wright Bros. re-purposed bicycle parts to make their first airplane! 

I wouldn't be surprised if it was the same tube you're thinking of. Honestly, for this application of just routing the filament, any tubing should be fine. I think this PTFE tube is ideal for real bowden style extruders because of the relatively tight tolerance of the inner diameter of the tube and because of the very low friction and high temperature resistance of the PTFE tube! I ordered enough to hopefully have some left over if I ever decide to convert my printer into a bowden style setup.  :Big Grin:

----------


## usarmyaircav

sorry if this is distracting from the original topic.  I understand the difference between a bowden setup and the Greg's extruder that comes with our kits, but what are the downfall/side effects of going with a true bowden config? It seems that the bowden from my limited reading gives the best speed for extruding.

----------


## printbus

Seeing if I can beat gmay3 again...

The main advantage a full Bowden setup has is reduction in weight at the extruder. Less weight means faster acceleration, which will reduce print time. The main disadvantage I am aware of is getting retraction set up properly can be troublesome.  

I believe the most common application for Bowden setups is on a delta type printer.  With the suspended extruder on a delta, I can imagine how weight at the extruder would really slow down how fast it can move around.

----------


## gmay3

> sorry if this is distracting from the original topic.  I understand the difference between a bowden setup and the Greg's extruder that comes with our kits, but what are the downfall/side effects of going with a true bowden config? It seems that the bowden from my limited reading gives the best speed for extruding.


No worries. My limited understanding (which may be wrong) is that you can print much faster since all you have to move around is a hot end and a X carriage. I believe that this is most beneficial when you have a printer that has a fixed bed where the the hotend can move in both X and Y directions. It sounds like there is a hysteresis error which I think is a fancy word to describe the lag between when the extruder motor extrudes filament to the time it takes for the filament to reach the hotend nozzle. Other errors added to the system include the diameter gap between filament and the bowden tube, as well as the flexibility of the tube. 

Overall, bowden is much faster at a slight quality hit.

If I'm wrong, lets discuss this in depth in another thread! I'd definitely be interested in hearing others weigh in on this! Plus I think a new thread may attract other experts from different places in the forum!

----------


## gmay3

> Seeing if I can beat gmay3 again...
> 
> The main advantage a full Bowden setup has is reduction in weight at the extruder. Less weight means faster acceleration, which will reduce print time. The main disadvantage I am aware of is getting retraction set up properly can be troublesome.  
> 
> I believe the most common application for Bowden setups is on a delta type printer.  With the extruder just hanging from some long wires, I can imagine how weight at the extruder would really slow down how fast the extruder can move around.


Ah you beat me again printbus! haha  :Big Grin:

----------


## AbuMaia

> My current plan was  to fix the bowden tube to the top of the frame with maybe an inch or  two extra to allow it to flex at the angles needed to have free motion  along the x axis. This way the filament should never be bending more  than 20-30 degrees and it would be pretty easy to swap out the filament since you'll have access to the several inches of filament above the extruder.


  Yeah, I do get quite a bit of bend between the top of the printer and the extruder when I print tall objects. It does bend a bit too right at the extruder, but the guidler is seeming to take the brunt of that; a small notch has been worn away where the filament is rubbing it. So far I've not had any problems from the bends, even when using PLA which I can snap by hand.

----------


## gmay3

Hmm. That's pretty impressive that it's running so well! I'm not sure how flexible the 3mm filament is but I'd imagine someone running that might have more of an issue.

I was actually originally thinking of ending the bowden tube about an inch away from the guidler entry but I think it would be harder to change the filament with only a little showing.

I'm thinking of designing a part that looks like the top of a cane with a flange on the bottom that will mount to the top of the printer so that the filament and optional bowden tube can be bent around the top with a smooth curve. Might have 2 or 3 slots to hold the tube down securely with zip ties. I might leave an inch or so of the bowden tube hanging down so that it can flex with the filament.

----------


## AbuMaia

> I was actually originally thinking of ending the bowden tube about an inch away from the guidler entry but I think it would be harder to change the filament with only a little showing.


  I haven't found that to be a problem. I have a small switch housing just above the extruder through which the filament runs (you can kind of see it in the second picture in my earlier link, it's where the tubing terminates). If the filament runs out, it opens the switch and pauses the printer with an M600 so I can replace it. It does leave about an inch of filament above the guidler, but that's plenty to grab and pull out. It's much easier than trying to fish out the filament after the end has passed the hobbed bolt.

----------


## TopJimmyCooks

AbuMaia, can you post or link to more detail on your filament shut off switch - how does it report back and cause the pause command to be sent?  thanks.

----------


## AbuMaia

Sure.

I use this switch housing http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:285504 with the switch plugged N.O. into pin 57 and 5v on RAMPS, right next to the servo pins. There are other switch housings available, just search "filament switch", I think I saw at least 6 versions scattered about.

I followed the instructions in this post http://forums.reprap.org/read.php?1,297350,399545 to modify Marlin to watch the switch and issue an M600 if it opens. Oh, I also modified part of the M600 code to not deactivate the steppers after a certain time, to try to prevent me from accidentally moving the X axis when replacing the filament. I commented out the "manage inactivity" line under M600.

I do have a problem of the M600 being sent 4 times, even with the "G4 P0" listed in that post. I haven't yet figured out how to fix it.

----------


## Roxy

> I do have a problem of the M600 being sent 4 times, even with the "G4 P0" listed in that post. I haven't yet figured out how to fix it.


There are a number of approaches to do this 'Right'.   By jamming commands into the serial buffer for the firmware to execute they gave up a lot of control, but it was a very quick and dirty way to get results.

One of the big flaws in how they did it is they have no idea how much buffer space is available for commands when the switch gets triggered.   For starters, the buffer management routines should be rewritten to address the situation where there isn't enough room to jam more commands in the buffer.

But really...  I would be very tempted to duplicate the M600 command as a stand alone routine that could be called when a condition is detected.   Then it would not be very difficult in the main loop to check prior to executing any command if the filament needs to be changed.  If so...  You call the new (duplicate) routine and don't have to mess with the GCode command buffer.

----------


## gmay3

So I got my bowden tube much earlier than I had expected! 

It's definitely slippery and feels like teflon which makes sense because after a google search I see that teflon is version of PTFE. It's also less flexible and more rigid that I had expected. I tried a few placement tests and for my printer and decided I won't be running the tube along with the other extruder/hotend wires. This is mainly because I would have to rotate my extruder motor and reroute all the wires which are going to my hotend. I like how everything is routed now so I don't want to change it right now. Plus if you want to do this, there are already parts out there as AbuMaia has already found that work great!

With this out of the way, the next decision is whether to route the tube over on the left side of the LCD or the right side of the LCD. I'm going to pick left because it is much more central to the print area, however it can't be in the way of the SD card (which is already hard to remove as it is). 

My plan is to redesign the left side of the LCD mount, the part with the SD card slot. This way I can solve two problems, I'll make the SD card more accessible and I will be able integrate a filament guide structure at the top of this LCD part which will guide the tube in a loop over the LCD mount.

----------


## printbus

> ...it can't be in the way of the SD card (which is already hard to remove as it is).


I haven't tried it, but have you seen the SD card grip on Thingiverse? http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:370861

----------


## gmay3

> I haven't tried it, but have you seen the SD card grip on Thingiverse? http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:370861


Yep I did see that one! It's a great idea but it wouldn't fit into the SD card reader in my laptop because when it's in there, the card only sticks out about 1mm.

----------


## AbuMaia

I've tried that card holder too, but it didn't hold onto the card. I've not had much trouble getting the card out of the LCD though, so it didn't bother me. I like the idea of an integrated filament guide in the side LCD mount piece.

----------


## TopJimmyCooks

a piece of clear packing tape folded over the card to form a flexible handle does the trick for me.

----------


## AbuMaia

> But really...  I would be very tempted to duplicate the M600 command as a stand alone routine that could be called when a condition is detected.


You think that would work? Right now the pause() routine that's activated by the switch is:



```
void pause()
{
  enquecommand("M600 E0 L0");
  enquecommand("G4 P1");
  enquecommand("G4 P1");
  enquecommand("G4 P1");
}
```

If I were to copy the contents of the "case 600" into the pause() routine in place of the enquecommands, would that work?

----------


## Roxy

> You think that would work? Right now the pause() routine that's activated by the switch is:
> 
> 
> 
> ```
> void pause()
> {
>   enquecommand("M600 E0 L0");
>   enquecommand("G4 P1");
> ...


Yes, most likely, but 'work' is the wrong word.   That would be a very solid start assuming *pause()* is not being called at interrupt time.  If so, you can't transfer control to the duplicate M600 (and modified) code.    The reason I say that isn't enough and is a good starting point is because the M600 command parses command line options and you won't have any just because the switch got triggered.

Any of the *       code_seen()* parameter parsing in the duplicate M600 code  (such as shown below) will not be doing anything meaningful...   In fact, they probably will be parsing (and messing up) the command line of whatever GCode command was executing when the pause() got called.  You would want to hard code in reasonable values for any variable that gets messed with because of a *code_seen()*:



```
 if(code_seen('Y'))
        {
          target[Y_AXIS]= code_value();
}
```

----------


## AbuMaia

Ok, I did some testing, and I found out why the code keeps getting repeated. I'll explain it in the other thread so I don't hijack this one.

----------


## gmay3

Ok so here's a little update on progress of the rear mounted, angled filament spool holder design.

I finished creating models that fit correctly as replacements of the left and right LCD bracket parts. I am planning to create a 3 part holder similar to my LED snap on tray that will extend from these new left and right LCD brackets. When this first prototype is complete, I'll be able to see what reinforcement might be needed after this first prototype.

----------


## usarmyaircav

> Ok so here's a little update on progress of the rear mounted, angled filament spool holder design.
> 
> I finished creating models that fit correctly as replacements of the left and right LCD bracket parts. I am planning to create a 3 part holder similar to my LED snap on tray that will extend from these new left and right LCD brackets. When this first prototype is complete, I'll be able to see what reinforcement might be needed after this first prototype.


Looking forward to seeing this!

----------


## usarmyaircav

Hey gmay3, just wondering if you had seen this google plus post.  https://plus.google.com/u/0/11396936...brctP2H?cfem=1

----------


## gmay3

> Hey gmay3, just wondering if you had seen this google plus post.  https://plus.google.com/u/0/11396936...brctP2H?cfem=1


Hey usarmyaircav! No I actually hadn't seen this before. This seems like a great design to keep filament environmentally stable and it's a good example of horizontal filament mounting. I like the use of filament guide tubes too, pretty cool. 

I haven't seen the need to use desiccants to dry out my filament in a container in my environment in Philadelphia. My primary goal is to extract fumes from the printer and make the printer/powersupply/filament/octopi be in one standalone enclosure to I can move it around easily.

----------


## RobH2

I like that sealed filament design in theory. If you never swap out types of filament its particularly attractive. I keep my filaments in white 5gal. restaurant buckets with sealed screw lids that have 2" of desiccant beads in the bottom. I'm in Baltimore and have experienced some moisture issues. But not since I started storing the filament this way.

----------


## gmay3

I saw this bit of genius today:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Buil...inky-projects/

I'm thinking of maybe incorporating a cook top range hood it into the design. I've seen models that incorporate a light bulb outlet, extractor fan, two speed exhaust fan speed control, and connection to outdoor ducting all for around 40 dollars. Not to mention material to make a top face of the enclosure! 

I'm guessing that on the max output of these things it would be too loud and windy to print but the lower setting might work.

I'd be interested in hearing what you guys think!

----------


## usarmyaircav

Makes pretty good sense.  I was wondering about a flexible exhaust hose for out a window, with some type of baffling so the cold air doesn't come back in.  Too complicated?

----------


## AbuMaia

I'm still working on my "curtains" concept enclosure for the printer. I've got the mounting pieces designed, I just need to print them out and assembled. As for my filament, I got a medium sized clear plastic bin, wide enough to hold 5 MakerFarm spools on a horizontal rod (1" dowel) with the plastic colour-change bead desiccant on the bottom.

----------


## gmay3

> Makes pretty good sense.  I was wondering about a flexible exhaust hose for out a window, with some type of baffling so the cold air doesn't come back in.  Too complicated?


Yes absolutely my plan. Right now I have access to the clothes dryer exhaust (4 inch flexible metal ducting) to get it out of the house. Later on I would be interested in using a more discreet plastic flexible tubing like a 3 inch or so to vent out a window. Reducing the ducting size also will reduce the airflow in the enclosure which might be a plus if the default fan speeds are to fast.

The hoods I'm looking at come in 30 inch wide and 24 inch wide models. I'm guessing the 24 inch is the way to go. The exhaust ports on them mate to either a 3-3/4 inch by 10 inch rectangular duct or a 7 inch circular duct. Both are adaptable to 4 inch circular ducting used from the dryer exhaust.

Something to exhaust could be easily made with baffling that could go into a window. Or there are things like these available.
http://www.amazon.com/Plastic-Whynte...ust+window+kit

----------


## gmay3

So some negatives of the range hood are that they are loud, large, heavy, routing the venting would be ugly sticking out the top, probably way to many CFM, and are very hard to seal completely (lots of gaps between bent sheet metal etc. I'm rethinking my approach.

I found out how to calculate the CFM of the fan needed to pump out the air. 

If the enclosure is 2.5 x 2.5 x 2.5 feet and I want fresh air in the case every minute I only need a 16 CFM fan. A cheap 120mm PC fan can easily do 40-70CFM. 

I found a PC fan with a variable speed controller built in for $20. Look at that knob on the speed controller!  :Big Grin: 
http://www.amazon.com/SilverStone-FM...+speed+control

This would allow me to vary the speed without having to engineer something and would cover me in case a fixed speed fan was too fast or slow. This fan should be much quieter too!

----------


## printbus

Maybe a "dust hood" is something that would work for you.  This one on amazon is likely too small, but it'll give you an idea of what I mean. Most are ready to accept a 4-inch vent hose, which would be just right.  Fitting an exhaust fan might be a challenge. One thought is that if you have a pretty sealed up box, maybe you could just leave the exhaust flue open and mount the fan on a sidewall, controlling how much fresh airflow the fan brings into the box.  The fan could be oriented at RAMPS or the power supply in order to minimize drafts on the print bed.

EDIT: Of course, you could mount a smaller dust hood on a larger flat top...

----------


## gmay3

So after giving it a good amount of thought and for the reasons I listed previously, I ordered the 120mm fan with speed controller. If it doesn't work out for some reason, I'll add it to my PC  :Wink: 

Should be arriving 12/5 so I will post pics and impressions then.

----------


## AbuMaia

I've finished the basic frame of the "curtains" concept enclosure I mentioned some time ago. Now I just have to figure out what to use to actually enclose it. Any suggestions? I'm considering pizza box tops, mylar, or some kind of fabric.

IMG_20141204_175435.jpgIMG_20141204_175444.jpgIMG_20141204_175457.jpgIMG_20141204_175520.jpg

----------


## RobH2

First of all, I like your fan guard. Secondly, how are you printing rainbow colored parts with a Wade's extruder? That's a good looking machine. 

I think I would get a clear shower curtain. Don't junk up your nice rig with pizza box tops. Or, buy clear vinyl off the bolt at a fabric store. You could use strip magnets to hold it to the frame maybe. It would also allow you to monitor your print along the way. I can't tell what the cabinet or base is under your printer but if it's metal, you could then pull a curtain off and stick it to that to get it out of the way.

----------


## AbuMaia

The "rainbow" parts are from a spool of MakerFarm filament I call my "ugly filament". It was a spool of "colorful" red-blue-purple ABS. It looks okay when the different colours have room to separate, but it's a rather nasty purple when they are all mixed together in tiny layers.

I intend to close off the back of the printer, as the print bed doesn't move back all the way, and close off the top all the way to the frame. The sides will be barely open at the extrusions for Z axis movement, and something will have to be done with the wires and filament going to the X carriage. I haven't yet decided if I want to close off the bottom or not. This is mainly to stop drafts and retain a little heat in winter. I don't expect it to be completely tight. The cabinet is an old wood phonograph cabinet.

If I had the money, I'd get some thin acrylic and glue it to the corner pieces.

----------


## RobH2

Interesting, hadn't see that filament. 

Part of the problem with enclosures is that you get natural convection no matter what because of the temperature differentials. If you leave a gap, then colder air will accelerate as it rushes through that area. I'd suspect that the most important area to try to seal off would be the bottom edges to the cabinet surface. Cold air rushing in a gap at the bottom is going to naturally flow over the bed and you might not be helping anything at all except making it harder to work around your printer. 

I was thinking once about a "bathtub" kind of solution. Imagine an upside down cover. The cover lies on the table and the printer sit in it. You then pull the sides up about a foot. My thought was that because the bed is warm, a heated layer would be created down near it and cooler air might be kept back by the rising heat. You'd need to model that though in some software. The cool air might just roll down the sides and cause just as many problems. I gave up on it but really should test the theory one day. But, it would allow access and a good view if it worked. 

I feel your pain on the acrylic. That stuff is pricy. You might try a Hobby Shop. They used to sell thin plastic sheeting for making windows and other clear train models. It had a blue cover that you just pulled off. I seem to remember buying a 2'x3' piece for about $8 one time. You don't need thick plastic really, you just need something to stop draft. What about getting the largest plastic lids that WalMart sells for trash cans and storage bins and cutting the center out? That's big and cheap plastic. My vote is still a vinyl shower curtain.

----------


## beerdart

Maybe shrink wrap window film.

----------


## AbuMaia

> I think I would get a clear shower curtain. Or, buy clear vinyl off the bolt at a fabric store. t would also allow you to monitor your print along the way.


I've got a Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint with a dedicated webcam I can access remotely online, so seeing into the box won't be a problem.




> Maybe shrink wrap window film.


I'm not sure how that stuff works, but wouldn't I have to cut through it to get to the finished print?

----------


## RobH2

The shrink wrap is good thinking outside of the box. If the whole frame comes away that might work. That film can create a lot of tension. It's wickedly strong stuff so the frame would need to be able to withstand the shrink without distorting. It's worth exploring as an alternative though. 

AbuMaia, what's your full OctoPrint rig? I'd like to do that too.

----------


## AbuMaia

> The shrink wrap is good thinking outside of the box. If the whole frame comes away that might work.


It does. The dowels are just friction-fit, no glue.




> That film can create a lot of tension. It's wickedly strong stuff so the frame would need to be able to withstand the shrink without distorting. It's worth exploring as an alternative though.


I doubt it, it's 1/4 inch poplar dowels, pretty bendy.




> AbuMaia, what's your full OctoPrint rig? I'd like to do that too.


Look here: http://3dprintboard.com/showthread.p...e-your-printer

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## rhonal89

Found this.






> We decided to make a custom cabinet for our (Maker Farm Prusa) 3D printer to help control the environment when operating for better quality prints. In addition to keeping the air currents down and the temperatures controlled it will also serve to lower the noise levels and provide a means to exhaust the air if necessary in the future.
> 
> We are using .25 an .5 inch MDF wood and acrylic (plexiglass) plastic to construct the entire project. The tools and software used are a Techno CNC router, Solid Works, VCarve Pro and Mach3 to provide precise cutting and design tolerances for a nice custom professional look and function.

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## AbuMaia

> We are using .25 an .5 inch MDF wood and acrylic (plexiglass) plastic to construct the entire project. The tools and software used are a Techno CNC router, Solid Works, VCarve Pro and Mach3


  They've got more money than I do.  I found a 27x40 poster frame at Walmart for $20. I opened it up and cut the plastic cover into 4 appropriately-sized squares, and have some left over I may be able to use to close off the back of the printer. I found some magnet tape as well, but it seems it's too weak to hold one piece of plastic to the frame, so I'll just use a few pieces on the bottom of the front of the frame to hold the front pane down, with a hinge of some sort at the top for access.

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## beerdart

> They've got more money than I do.  I found a 27x40 poster frame at Walmart for $20. I opened it up and cut the plastic cover into 4 appropriately-sized squares, and have some left over I may be able to use to close off the back of the printer. I found some magnet tape as well, but it seems it's too weak to hold one piece of plastic to the frame, so I'll just use a few pieces on the bottom of the front of the frame to hold the front pane down, with a hinge of some sort at the top for access.


Poster frame not that's thinking with your dip stick Jimmy. Lol

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## gmay3

OK so I got the speed controlled fan I mentioned in my previous post and I think it's definitely going to be a great fit for use as an exhaust faninside the enclosure. The speed control potentiometer is smooth turning not set in increments so you could dial in a precise amount of air flow. The pot and knob are really high quality as is the fan so I am definitely happy with it! All that was needed was a molex fan supply, I used this one http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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## lovincup

Hello fellow Farmers, long time lurker first time poster...Here is my attempt at a wife friendly fume enclosure. I used the respirator cartridge/Fan method to "scrub" the air. It works really well. I detect no ABS smell. It is loud but I installed it with a pot so I can dial back the noise. The door is held on with rare earth magnets so I get the full width of the opening for maintenance. The windows are removable also. This the  10" i3v

FullSizeRender.jpg
FullSizeRender2.jpg

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## gmay3

lovincup, very nicely done! Way to make a big bang of a post as your first! Welcome to the forums!  :Big Grin: 

What did you use for the clear windows? Normal glass or plexi?

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## beerdart

Welcome to the board nice to have a fellow CT farmer..

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## lovincup

Thanks guys,

A friend of mine had some of the thick plexi kicking around that he donated to me. It's scratched but it's the expensive stuff so I figured I would try and buff it out with some plexi polish. The value outweighs the fact that there are scratches.

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## RobH2

Really nice enclosure 'lovincup.' Roomy and bright. I like it a lot. Most enclosures are close and cramped and you can't get in to work on the machine. Nice job.

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## gmay3

> A friend of mine had some of the thick plexi kicking around that he donated to me.


That is some true friendship right there! 

I have been kicking around the idea of using normal glass to save cost but it's probably too fragile.

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## TechMasterJoe

nice case working on one myself for a 12" i3v
using a few sensors and an arLCD (arduino+ 3.2in lcd touch screen two in one)
to control temp in the case as well as air flow even a few extra hotbeds for more heat.

working on water cooling the steppers and extruders 

if anyone wants to do this and has plains ready just pm me i have a  water jet, 2X CnC routers (5ftX10ft), two Haas VF-2's, haas super mini  mill, eight Kitamura's all setup in the shop
i tend to have free time where i can work on little stuff like this a lot.

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## lovincup

(sorry off topic) You mention Touchscreen....While mine isn't as fun, and after trying the Rasberry Pi\Octopi, I have opted to use my Dell Venue 8 pro tablet with Repitier Host. I also have TeamViewer installed and also utilize Microsoft One drive. I can use the Touchscreen at the printer or remote into the Venue and adjust my slicer or printer temp/fan settings and even add a file to Onedrive from work and pick it up remotely on the printer and print. I'm still not comfortable printing while not at home but the few times I have I have been able to watch progress via TeamViewer on my Mobile phone and also watch my IP cam. I plan on doing an Arduino power strip so I can turn it on or off remotely. Perhaps Arduino actuated fire suppression is in line.

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## gmay3

Here are a few updates on the rear mounted spool holder (a stepping stone to the enclosure build). So far I've designed the two sides and working on the middle part which will hold the spool.
IMG_3523.jpgIMG_3524.jpg

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## gmay3

OK so I just finished putting the prototype back together and it feels strong and has smooth rotation!

I'll test it out fully tomorrow with a few prints.

IMG_3525.jpgIMG_3526.jpgIMG_3528.jpgIMG_3529.jpgIMG_3530.jpg

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## sniffle

Gmay3 have you seen these? For quick and dirty mock up or even permanent with silicone along the inside edge.

Then rework one of them so that it can be a hinge for a door... :-)

Just a thought... I found them today.  Its how i plan to do a quick and dirty enclosure till i can build a more permanent solution.  I need a finger shield for the kids as much as anything :-P


Edit: might help if i paste in the link...

https://www.youmagine.com/designs/xyz-connect

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## gmay3

That's pretty cool. Definitely would be good for a quick enclosure!

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## sniffle

Its not 100% complete still needs to be sealed to retain heat and the 1/8th plexi needs to be replaced with 1/4 for strength but it works quite well quiets things down and keeps kiddo hands away.  I designed and printed the hinges based on the connect pieces.  They still need to be tweaked a little as well.

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## AbuMaia

Please be sure to post your hinges when you have them tweaked to your satisfaction.  :Smile:

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## sniffle

I will :-)

Gotta cut the size in half and reinforce the pins.  

They work fine now but the size makes the plexi reallt fat away from the box and hard to seal.  So i havr a plan to hopefully remedy that.

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## AbuMaia

If all else fails, you could use the ol' standby of packaging tape as a "hinge".  :Smile:

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## sniffle

> If all else fails, you could use the ol' standby of packaging tape as a "hinge".


Lol no need for that they work they are just bulky

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## gmay3

Looking good sniffle! I'm happy with the performance of my rear mounted spool holder so I will release it on thingiverse as soon as I can.

I'm going to build a model of my current enclosure design out cardboard boxes from left over the holiday online shopping stockpile  :Smile: . I mainly want to make sure my dimensions are correct and that the door design I have in mind will allow enough space to change the spool.

I like the dimensions you have for your enclosure. I'm trying to do the bare minimum needed as well so this thing isn't huge lol! (I'm provisioning for a removable base so that when I need more room to work on something I can take the front, back, top, sides, and door off all in one piece. (hopefully)




> Its not 100% complete still needs to be sealed to retain heat and the 1/8th plexi needs to be replaced with 1/4 for strength but it works quite well quiets things down and keeps kiddo hands away.  I designed and printed the hinges based on the connect pieces.  They still need to be tweaked a little as well.

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## adamfilip

wouldnt enclosing the printer, reduce the cooling on the hot end heatsink?

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## gmay3

That's a good point you bring up adamfilip. I am also a little concerned about the ramps board as well.

I'm wondering how much heat is present inside the enclosure during a 1-2 hour print. I'm planning to use mine more as a ventilation hood than a heated enclosure but I know even with that goal in mind I'm still going to have some heat buildup.

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## sniffle

I have actually monitored my 12" printer's temp with a thermometer it never got above 50C inside the enclosure(within 4 inches of the top which is where it will be the hottest).  It kept things nice and warm but never hot.  It made printing ABS much easier.

keep in mind my enclosure is 1/8th plexi(couldnt afford 1/4 at the time) and 1/4" ply

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## gmay3

> I have actually monitored my 12" printer's temp with a thermometer it never got above 50C inside the enclosure(within 4 inches of the top which is where it will be the hottest).  It kept things nice and warm but never hot.  It made printing ABS much easier.
> 
> keep in mind my enclosure is 1/8th plexi(couldnt afford 1/4 at the time) and 1/4" ply


Very interesting! Thanks for the data point sniffle! Do you use the normal makerfarm hotend fan or the Clough42 fan system?

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## sniffle

I originally was using the original makerfarm setup, then moved to havign that fan reversed so that i could print clough's design, and now use clough's setup :-)

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## gmay3

> I originally was using the original makerfarm setup, then moved to havign that fan reversed so that i could print clough's design, and now use clough's setup :-)


Very cool! This is great news, I'm not worries about any hot end overheats then. Thanks sniffle!  :Big Grin:

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## sniffle

no problem, keep in mind that my enclosure is a 2' cube because of the size of the 12"  It takes a lot more to heat up that much volume compared to what would be required for an 8" enclosure.

I'm really looking forward to your spool holder, because then i can move my display outside of the enclosure and the spool inside.  It shoudl make life much better i can also add some engineered support to the plexi top

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## gmay3

That's a good point. I'm thinking the airflow through my enclosure might keep it on the cooler side so maybe it will all even out to be around the same.

Thanks! I hope to be able to post it this week. I'm going to add it to the SHOW YA MODS stickied thread so look for it there! A couple things I should mention about it. 

1. The 8" basic (ye olde) LCD display mount side panels are critical for the spool holder as it attaches to the frame at these point. From a far away glance it seems like Colin may have reused these in the design of the 12" printer graphical LCD side panels but I would need confirm the dimensions with you.

2. The top of the 8" LCD display mount is about level with the top of the highest part of the spool. So for 8" printers you wouldn't be able to have the display sticking out and also have the spool rotate as it is currently designed. BUT since the graphical LCD on your 12" seems to stick up higher than the LCD side panels you might be ok. Either way, the spool holder can be easily modified to work how ever you need it to with google sketchup.

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## gmay3

So today I used the left over cardboard boxes to prototype the enclosure. The sides top and bottom will be made out of wood and the front door will be acrylic. 

The entire top front and sides will hinge back to allow access to the printer for large repairs.

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## gmay3

sniffle, do you find that having the enclosure has made your heatbed heat up faster?

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## sniffle

> sniffle, do you find that having the enclosure has made your heatbed heat up faster?



yes and i tend to have less trouble with a lot of things like warping etc just from having a stable environment.

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## gmay3

Awesome thanks! Yet more motivation to get this enclosure finished! I have it designed in 3d, now I need to explode it into dimensioned parts to take to the hardware store!  :Smile:

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## sniffle

> Awesome thanks! Yet more motivation to get this enclosure finished! I have it designed in 3d, now I need to explode it into dimensioned parts to take to the hardware store!



just to give you more motivation... i have a 12" heatbed... 120 degrees in about 5-6 min :-D

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## usarmyaircav

> Awesome thanks! Yet more motivation to get this enclosure finished! I have it designed in 3d, now I need to explode it into dimensioned parts to take to the hardware store!


looking forward to your design so I can copy it  :Smile:

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## RobH2

> sniffle, do you find that having the enclosure has made your heatbed heat up faster?


In the meantime, until you get enclosed, get one of those mylar space blankets. You know, the thin silver things that fold up the size of a soap bar. Then cut a piece of cardboard that is about 1" larger than your bed. Wrap a piece of that mylar around the cardboard and tape it well on the back side. While your bed is heating, just put that mylar board face down over the bed. It will reflect all that heat back and will it heat up much more quickly. Just make sure you are around when the printer starts so you can lift it off. It works really well for me.

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## clough42

> In the meantime, until you get enclosed, get one of those mylar space blankets. You know, the thin silver things that fold up the size of a soap bar. Then cut a piece of cardboard that is about 1" larger than your bed. Wrap a piece of that mylar around the cardboard and tape it well on the back side. While your bed is heating, just put that mylar board face down over the bed. It will reflect all that heat back and will it heat up much more quickly. Just make sure you are around when the printer starts so you can lift it off. It works really well for me.


You can also replace your heat bed transistor (RAMPS) with this one:
http://www.digikey.com/product-searc...IRLB8743PBF-ND

It has much lower Rds-on, so it runs cooler and the bed heats faster.  Best $1.40 I've spent on my printer.

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## AbuMaia

404 on that link, c42.

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## gmay3

Thanks for the tips guys! I'll try them out in the meantime!

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## clough42

> 404 on that link, c42.


Oops.  I fixed it.  The link was tied to my account.

http://www.digikey.com/product-search/en?x=0&y=0&lang=en&site=us&keywords=IRLB8743PBF-ND

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## gmay3

The basic 3d designs are complete for the enclosure, got the wood needed (1/4 inch ply, 1/2 inch ply for the bottom, 1/2 square dowel for the frame) total so far $75 total. 

Plexiglass front is going to be very pricey so I'm thinking of using real glass perhaps surrounded in a wooden frame. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on this!

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## gmay3

Here's some photos of the progress so far! Still have to work on the door and then I'll be all set!

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## sniffle

Looking good!

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## usarmyaircav

Great thinking to have to bottom hinge too!

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## gmay3

Thanks guys! Yeah the bottom hinge is going to make it really easy to access everything during maintenance. The idea came about when making the cardboard prototype and forgetting to tape the bottom to the front  :Wink:

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## MiniMadRyan

Really liking the looks of that! Awesome job so far!!

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## SgtToe

What do you guys think of this?  I don't have a printer yet so wanted your thoughts.  Not sure how many spools it would take to print all of this, any estimates?

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:690543

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## printbus

> What do you guys think of this?...


My main comment is that I learned early in my printer days to avoid Thingiverse listings that don't include pictures of actual printed items.  Too many people out there pushing out untested designs... That's a pretty ambitious project for the guy's first and only item on Thingiverse.

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## gmay3

It would take way too much time and cost to make that fully 3d printed enclosure. I can't see any benefit of it being a modular enclosure. It's not practical for something so specific to be modular.

Wood is cheap!

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## SgtToe

> My main comment is that I learned early in my printer days to avoid Thingiverse listings that don't include pictures of actual printed items.  Too many people out there pushing out untested designs... That's a pretty ambitious project for the guy's first and only item on Thingiverse.



I was noticing the lack of pics and and 0 Made This indicator and wondring if anyone had in fact tried it.  Good insight, thanks

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## SgtToe

> It would take way too much time and cost to make that fully 3d printed enclosure. I can't see any benefit of it being a modular enclosure. It's not practical for something so specific to be modular.
> 
> Wood is cheap!


I was afraid that was going to be the answer, guess I will just have to do like everyone else seems to do and that is get the printer and use it first before I build an enclosure out of wood.  I had been debating what color to paint my printer when I get it, and even if I should paint it, then as I was showing my wife various pics of enclosures from this thread she asked if I need to put a clear door on it.  She wants a solid door so she "doesn't have to look at all those wires and gears and stuff"  So that will radically change my enclosure design.

Have you any of you seen this?  It looks like it just sits in the enclosure and scrubs the air.  Could work in any enclosure I think.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:125264

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## gmay3

> I was afraid that was going to be the answer, guess I will just have to do like everyone else seems to do and that is get the printer and use it first before I build an enclosure out of wood.


Yeah I agree with your logic, it's best to see how printing works and what you will want to incorporate in your enclosure after you've been printing for a bit. 




> She wants a solid door so she "doesn't have to look at all those wires and gears and stuff"


You can always do this and put an octoprint/raspberry pi webcam in there to view the printing online. Also it would cost about the same as a plexiglass sheet to buy all the stuff needed for an octoprint setup  :Wink: 




> Have you any of you seen this?  It looks like it just sits in the enclosure and scrubs the air.  Could work in any enclosure I think.
> http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:125264


I'd be surprised if this works well enough to not need ventilation at all. In his description he mentions that you should still ventilate.

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## SgtToe

> You can always do this and put an octoprint/raspberry pi webcam in there to view the printing online. Also it would cost about the same as a plexiglass sheet to buy all the stuff needed for an octoprint setup


Yep! I have a pi from an old project, a web cam that is compatible, and the wifi dongle and just downloaded the distro for for octoprint.  Just need a powered hub and I will have octoprint before I have a printer, lol.

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## AbuMaia

> Also it would cost about the same as a plexiglass sheet to buy all the stuff needed for an octoprint setup


  I didn't know plexi was that cheap.

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## sniffle

> I didn't know plexi was that cheap.



24x48 sheet of 1/4"plexi at lowes is 58$ i looked yesterday

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## gmay3

> I didn't know plexi was that cheap.


Ha! Yeah maybe 2 octopi setups! 

I'm going to be using 8mm thick glass I'm re-purposing from a broken digital bathroom scale as my "view port". I'm going to frame it with wood and use that as the door. I was going to use plexi but to me it just doesn't make sense to spend that much on a door.

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