We need to buy an enclosure for our 9 year old Taz 6 to keep visitors from reaching in and touching the nozzle or bed.
Amazon has one with LED lighting but it’s 28.7 inches wide and the Taz 6 measures 29.5 inches wide.
We’re looking for less expensive enclosure options under $100 or as close to $100 as possible.
Thank you.
With that budget, do the amazon one. You want the electronics control box out of the enclosure anyway.
Just cut part of the panel out of the side so that the control box sits outside of it.
Or you can build a simple plywood enclosure that covers the sides and top, and attach an acrylic sheet on the front you can see through. If it’s not for keeping temperature or fumes under control, the back can be open, and you just make the acrylic removeable, or you just slide the “enclosure” off and set it aside when working on the machine.
I used the one in the link below for a Workhorse. You have to rotate it sideways, but it is reasonably priced and works just fine. As for temp inside, it would take hours for the temperature to get up to upper 80’s low 90’s while printing PLA at 215* / 55* (Hotend/bed). I can’t say I noticed the electronics fan running much either. It does have a two way zipper and a few Velcro flaps so you can create openings for air to move through away from the print head.
I’m using the Wham Bam Hot Box Mega. Fits fine and has ports for air filtration and routing the filament.
If you need to access the side with the SD card, just unzip that panel
They have feet available to raise it up some to keep some air flow for the electronics.
I also added The Cloud, an inexpensive fire suppression device to the top.
Coupon Code WNIC2022 will save some money too.
You can see mine in action on my video here - https://youtu.be/ent6j8qXqBc?si=-3GY6Bg7nUh1WMv0&t=884
I’m going to make an enclosure for my Taz 6 with 4mm coroplast sheet, bolting pieces to the frame with 2020 extrusion hardware and making front and back extensions using 3D printed corner brackets. The extensions will be set up so they just lift off. A 4x8 ft sheet of coroplast costs about $35 in white and is probably enough for 2 enclosures of the style that I am thinking. 5mm t-nuts and assorted length screws should be about another $30. No 2020 rails will be needed, the coroplast is sturdy enough and should withstand 65 dec C. I’ll add some fans inside for air circulation. I will use clear acrylic or Lexan only for the front panel. I’m not ready to post photos yet; I’m still getting parts together. The entire enclosure will be barely larger than the TAZ 6 itself.
I noticed that the Taz 6 uses a 2020 extrusion profile that has only a 5.2 mm slot width instead of the now more common 6.2 mm. This prevents the use of drop-in T-nuts, which have a width of 6 mm. The only nuts that work for the narrower slots are the type that need to be slid in from an open end. This makes my idea more difficult to implement. Grrrr…