IKEA STUVA Enclosure

First off, I love my little Lulzbot Mini! It prints like a dream and when I have questions the customer support is top notch. Recently, I’ve been looking for ways to cut down on noise and maybe limit warping a bit on ABS parts. Would also be nice if the solution allows me to still attach a webcam so I can monitor prints if I’m out! I feel like I have a general solution, but I want to bounce the idea off you guys and gals!

In my searches I found an interesting concept using an IKEA ‘STUVA’ cabinet:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30128177/
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90291858/
https://i.imgur.com/TVLLMwz.png
http://i.imgur.com/OOqOVkT.jpg
https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/43hbeu/wanhao_i3makerselect_this_799_table_from_ikea_is/?

I really like the clean look of it and while the Reddit post suggests it would work well with the Lulzbot Mini, I haven’t found anything to back that up. Does anyone have any experience with this style enclosure working for their Lulzbot Mini?

I’m not entirely convinced this setup would fit the Mini and a filament spool. In these kinds of cases, do most people just drill a hole in the top and feed the filament through the top of the enclosure?

What kind of temperatures am I looking at in the enclosure? I’ve seen where some people leave their webcam inside their enclosure! https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Ad08kFmLhE0/UzBq6vMPnfI/AAAAAAAAAIM/DLh5d-YNGDI/s1600/_DSC0058_preview_featured.jpg

Probably a more general question, what about air supply to the control unit? I imagine it would get warm if the Lulzbot Mini were enclosed. Would this be as easy as creating a duct from outside to the fan exhaust of the control unit? Similar to what was done here:
https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/adjustable-heat-bed-glass-mount/38/1

As far as general airflow to the printer, I thought drilling a hole and adding a respirator filter might work. Would I need to have a fan drive air through the filter? Or just have the filter work passively?

Aside from drilling more holes to running wiring and maybe an LED strip, is there anything else I should consider?

(I feel like after drilling all these holes into the enclosure, it’s going to end up as noisy as it now? But maybe not!)

If limiting noise is what you want, add the damper to the Y stepper. https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/nema-17-motor-vibration-damper-night-and-day/2367/1

It makes a huge difference, it’s cheap, and it’s easy to install. I didn’t even need to remove the pulley, just slipped the damper over it.

Putting the whole thing in a cabinet like that does mean the electronics get warm. How warm is an interesting question. I have no idea.

I made an enclosure using this: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1258662 It helps with ABS warping, without getting the electronics hot. It’s not as well sealed up, but it helps. I just remove it when not printing ABS.

If you’re using a filter, you will need something generating pressure to push air through it. I doubt the heat difference will be enough. Not just any fan will do, you will need something pressure rated.

This is awesome! I am going to have to look into this…

Without taking anything apart myself from what I understand the motor is separated from the pulley and the damper is added between the two. Then the pulley has to be adjusted (in some way) to make sure the belt is tight and straight. This last part is the only part I’m not sure I understand. :confused:

From I can gather adding the damper will lower the pulley = the height of the damper. Did you then backout the pulley setscrew to bring the pulley up to its original level with the belt?

The damper installs between the body of the motor and the frame of the printer. The offset is a few mm, but didn’t cause any trouble for my printer. I just angled the motor into place, setting the belt in the pulley and holding it tight while putting in the screws.

You might have to adjust the pulley height, but even if you do, it’s pretty simple. Back out the set screw, adjust, tighten. I just didn’t see any need to on my machine.

Awesome, thank you for posting this! I have been thinking about how to do an enclosure but kept over complicating it.

By way of helping to answer your question and raising more questions, here is what I just did with my Mini. I enclosed the entire machine in a particle board enclosure. The noise is no longer an issue and the interior temperature goes up to just short of 90 degrees F. I am not venting the box at all. I print in ABS exclusively and the prints are coming off without warping. Is 90F going to harm the electronics?

Hi Fred

90°F is apr. 32°C if I am not wrong (sorry I am one of those metric guys :wink: )

That should not be any trouble for the electronics. The only parts that don’t high ambient temperatures is the power parts (stepper driver, Mosfets) as this makes it more difficult dissipate the heat they are producing. As I can’t see them working on their limits that is no problem.

All the Best
Frank

Thanks Frank!