Designing enclosure for Mini 3D

Hi,

I’m designing an enclosure for my Mini 3D and wondered if a set of dimensional drawings of the printer and its parts were available. I’d like to design the enclosure to keep the processor part of the printer as cool as possible while keeping the rest of the print area warm and protected against drafts. If they aren’t available, I’ll break out my calipers, etc. but I was hoping to avoid that exercise.

Thanks!

Charles

+1! I’d love to do this for my mini too.

I ordered some supplies yesterday for an enclosure for my Mini. I’m building mine over sized and with an exhaust fan to provide a negative pressure on it to keep the smell out of the house, I plan to vent it directly outside. Mine will be 2’ tall x 2’ deep x 3’ long.

I’m looking at scaling down the OHAI CAT-Guard https://ohai-kit.alephobjects.com/project/cat_guard/ enclosure, but I want to set it up with an exhaust fan that has a HEPA filter to capture the microparticles that may be released during printing. The HEPA filter should absorb a lot of the odor as well.

The other mod I’m looking at is isolating the RAMP electronics so that I can keep them relatively cool. Extruded aluminum and plexiglass (per the OHAI build) looks like the way to go to keep the overall weight down as well.

I’m working on a build that will cut down on the noise. As I get more into it, I’ll post some better info. Everything is open-concept here, so I’m going to see if I can’t make it look a bit closer to furniture than the average printer enclosure.

I’m planning to go with exhaust fans as well, but with extra baffling to keep the sound down. I don’t think I’ll let the electronics out of the box, though. Hopefully I can get enough air flow to make that unnecessary.

.:Brian

Hi All,

First I’d like to extend a huge thank you from all the members at Sector67 (in Madison,WI) for the for the wonderful donation of a Lulzbot Mini printer to our Hacker space. The printer is awesome and a great addition to our tools.

Next, I’d like to share some photos of the enclosure we’ve design for the Mini.
please see attachments.

The front and back inserts have bump outs to provide clearance for the Y travel, while minimizing the visual impact of the enclosure. The left side is a fairly straight-forward insert, but the right side panel did require a modification to the spool holder arm. Basically, we change the hinged arm to a simple insert, with a 3d printed bracket. Uses the same holes on the frame, and allow the arm to be removed and inserted. Also, this clears the frame outline for an easy panel to enclose that side. I’ve put the 3d printed parts up on Thingiverse, for the hinges, door latch, and the side panels.

So far the results using this enclosure have been great. Yet to be discovered is if it causes any heat build-up issues.

If anyone is interested or has questions, let me know. I’ll be putting up a top cover (likely fabric and Velcro) soon.

Blue Skies,
Jim Rasmussen
TabSynth Design Works


Great job on this enclosure Jim. How was the plexiglass cut and formed for the front with the door and the thickness used for the enclosure. Are the clips readly available at a local hardware store. Would you share your plans and information for building a enclosure for my mini. About how much was the material cost. I am not to handy and like to see if I can have this made for me. Look forward to hearing back from you. Thank you
George Kuzyk

George,

I laser cut the panels from 3mm (1/8") Acrylic. It comes to approx 5 sq ft of material. The clips I laser cut from 5mm Acrylic. They could just as easily be 3D printed, but I’m a firm believer that; “when you have a laser cutter, every project looks like a laser cutter project.” Just kidding :slight_smile: I laser cut them because it was very quick, and they look great that way. They might actually be stronger if they were printed.

I put the design files for the side panels, clips, hinges, and door latch on Thingiverse. Links are here:

Left side panel: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:756173
Right side panel: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:756211
Hinges: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:755437
Latch for Door: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:755496
Panel Clips: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:756121
Filament Arm Bracket: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:756064
M3 Washers for fastening the hinges: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:755320

I could upload the same design files here, if that is the preferred way to do it.

The front an back of the enclosure were more complicated than a simple cut out. They need to attach to the frame, be removable easily, and accommodate Y axis travel of the build platform.

I designed the front and back of the enclosure to assemble with no fasteners, and no adhesives. They are not “formed,” but rather use laser cut flat panels with tabs to lock them together. Works really nice and allows for a compact flat pack, easy to assemble enclosure that requires no tools to install. (well, other than an allen wrench for the hinges, and to install the filament arm bracket.

If you’d like a set of panels cut for an enclosure, let me know, and we can talk about a price., if you wanted to 3D print the rest of the enclosure parts. If you wanted me to 3D print all the parts and provide a complete kit, that is doable as well.

The
Blue Skies,
Jim Rasmussen

This is super cool! Thanks for sharing!

Wow thanks for all the info and sharing this with us guys. YES Jim by all means can you quote me a price for the enclosure for the mini. I assume this would be as a kit to clip on and put the front and back together. Look forward to receiving your info. By the way here is my email address if needed gkuzyk@comcast.com

George,

I’ve put together a complete kit and put it up on Ebay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/291424144387?_t … EBIDX%3AIT) and Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Lulzbot-Mini-3D-Printer-Enclosure/dp/B00VOE4SFO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1428436918&sr=8-1&keywords=Lulzbot+Enclosure)for 109.95 + Shipping.

I hope is is permissible to post those links here. If not, please let me know, and I’ll take them off.

For folks on the Lulzbot forum, I sell the entire kit for $99.99 + Shipping cost. Let me know if you think that is reasonable for the laser cut panels, clips, hinges, latch, filament arm bracket, and hardware.

Kit should take about 10 minutes to install. It does require you to either modify the filament arm (by cutting off the hinge at the bottom) or or print a new one.

Blue skies,
Jim Rasmussen
TabSynth Design Works
Madison, WI 53715
608-251-4715

Jim I corrected my email address today. It is gkuzyk@comcast.net NOT .com to send info on the kit for the mini… on another note how has it been working out for you? Any issues or problems?

Jim sounds great can you make me a kit and let me know how we can pay you for this. I don’t want to post my credit card info here.
George Kuzyk

Jim can you include markings on the pieces to help with the assembly of the covers. That would be extremely helpful. Thanks Jim, by the way if they are purchased on Amazon will they have an assembly plan for the covers as well. Look forward to hearing from you shortly.

I know it wasn’t your big design goal, but does this enclosure do much for the noise? If I can eliminate a lot of the high-pitched noise, life with the printer would be a lot better.

This design on ebay fraudulently claims the product is by LulzBot:

Brand: Lulzbot

I realize you want to use our free software, open source hardware reputation, the goodwill we’ve built up by delivering quality products with excellent customer support, but you can’t just do that. You can’t put OUR name on your proprietary junk.

-Jeff

All,

I wish to publicly apologize for any confusion I may have caused by listing this unauthorized kit for sale. It was a clumsy attempt to respond to a handful of requests. While I believed that in the context of the offering, as an ad-on by a third party, I was being clear, I can see Jeff’s concern that there may have been a possibility for confusion. Such was not my intent.

I have reached out to the four individuals who purchased a kit, and offered a full refund and I have withdrawn the listing from Ebay and Amazon.

For anyone on this forum who may have any question, this enclosure hack was an unauthorized, unapproved and unwarranted modification of the printer by a third party (me) who has no relationship whatsoever with manufacturer.

Once again, I’d like to apologize to Jeff and his company for any confusion or trouble I may have caused them.

Thanks for reading,
Jim Rasmussen
I

DrazzticAction,

Does your case have a top panel? I guess the filament feeding is hard if it’s a solid panel.

I’m interested in a case for containing (and possibly venting) the ultrafine particles generated when printing. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231013005086

Related: Cool mini air-scrubber for 3D printers. Seems to be still in development. http://www.3dprintclean.com/

Thanks.

This is a pretty harsh response by admin. Asking as a prospective customer who sees a gap in the offering. it leads to these questions:

Why is this solution junk?

Will Lulz offer a non junk solution?