There didn’t appear to be a cover in existance for the AO-101 RAMPS case, and all that exposed wiring was making me nervous. So, here is my attempt at a Cover. I haven’t had a chance to try and print this yet, my 3d skills are a bit rusty, and this is my first STL file creation, so please let me know if anything is off. It probably needs flipped before someone tries printing it.
Generation steps: Imported the Lulzbot base RAMPS 1.4 case into autodesk inventor with the STL to solid plugin. Then created a thingy on top. Exported that to STL and DWG. I have the base inventor file too if that would be of any use to anyone.
Please feel free to clean this up or fix any errors you see if anyone wants to play with it. I’ll try printing it tomorrow. ramps_mount_top.stl (293 KB)
That’s pretty cool! I would recommend rotating the part 180 degrees along either the X or Y axis, so the top flat portion of the model sits on the bed.
I suppose it would be easier to print with the flat part on the bed. The units are also off in the STL. i apperently had inventor set to english units, not metric, so it either needs scaled up or something. I’ve attached the flipped copy and the dwg ffile, renamed to .txt below. If a different cad format would be more useful i cna probably accomodate that, though I don’t seem to have an export to scad format button ramps_mount_lid_rename_to_dwg.txt (201 KB) ramps _inverted.stl (227 KB)
Hey, nice of you to do this, and I’m sorry to rain on your parade… But your model has a few errors, I’m not sure it can be printed as it is. The top plate does not touch the vertical walls on 3 sides, there’s a 0.004" (0.1mm) gap. The small tab on the short side hangs in the air as well.
Apart from DWG and DXF (and STL of course) AutoCAD can only export to ACIS (*.sat) which is a proprietary format that cannot be opened by open source software. Expensive CAD software usually provide translators. There are no 3D file format that AutoCAD can export to that could be opened by open source software. STEP is good because it’s an open CAD exchange format, but of course AutoCAD does not offer it. Autodesk Inventor does though. Go figure.
As for scad, it’s the OpenSCAD file format, and the only CAD app that can open OpenSCAD files is FreeCAD, an open source parametric CAD software. Although OpenSCAD needs to be installed too (I wrote about it here). OpenSCAD is a niche program for programmers, AFAIK virtually no one outside the RepRap/Personal 3D printing world uses it. That people use it at all baffles me to no end.
Huh, yeah, sure enough. that’s weird because the top plate was extruded directly off the top surface there too. I’ll fix it and re-upload it this evening. I’m a bit rusty at this still, sorry. Give me a few weekends though, and i’ll be good to go (I hope)! I do have Autodesk Inventor, so I can upload a STEP file if that would be useful for anyone.
I was debating putting in more vents too. I kind of like the offset look as is, but more vents is good too.
Printing the corrected cover now. Looks like it’s the right size and the right side up now. I also added the all important fan mounting holes that I forgot earlier. Here’s the gcode and the corrected STL. i’ll put them up on the thingy site here in a minute too.
I’m about 60% through the print at time of writing this, and the dimensions look good at the moment. Will post pictures when its done.
It works! It printed! Pictures and exclamation points! (ignore the green residue on the surface of the cover, my Kapton tape and I got into an argument, and I lost. I should have replaced the tape before I attempted the print.
It looks like I may need to either flatten my wires more, or possibly make the cover slightly taller. I haven’t actually bolted it down yet because I need to aquire a side fan for it. Everything lines up, I may need to clearance the MicroSD card slot a bit, but it fits!
Also, for no apparent reason, the X axis belt tensioner. It works well!
Yeah, I had a look at your stl and figured it was rather low. I think it should be 40mm (1-9/16") high at a minimum, maybe up to 50mm (2"). Also, at the height you did you won’t be able to place nuts in the inside to hold the fan. Going higher will allow you too. It would also be a good idea to make the same thing as the current lower RAMPS mount and thicken the wall in the hole areas to make hexagon recesses for the nuts.
Is that a design you made or downloaded?
Nice upgrades! I’m ashamed to say that after months I have yet to make them.
It actually does fit with a little persuasion. The fan itself is mounted to the cover half only by fan screws, the ones that are designed to thread into the fan screw holes themselves and lock the fan in place. It only needs anchored at the top or bottom for stability. I’ve already modified the cover some to make room for the LCD cables for the LCD that now goes off of my RAMPS 1.4 board with the correct pins. I need to reinforce the cover itself in the middle to provide some mounting holes for the bracket for the LCD as an option. I’ll probably extrude it up another 10mm at that point, but it will be a while before I get to that now that I have a working one and I’m on to the next upgrade project. The current cover is fully bolted down and operational though, so it will work as is.
The tensioner came from thingiverse. It’s listed as a Y tensioner of some sort, but i didn’t write down specifcally which one it was at the time. Here’s the stl file for it, but it is not mine and I take no credit for it. You’ll have to either widen it slightly or (like I did) clearance the holes slightly as it prints slightly narrower than the screw width, but there is plenty of case left over and its plenty strong.
But your model has a few errors, I’m not sure it can be printed as it is. The top plate does not touch the vertical walls on 3 sides, there’s a 0.004" (0.1mm) gap. The small tab on the short side hangs in the air as well.
