Good Morning from my Robotics Lab! This is Shadow_8472, and today, I am finishing my 3D printer’s case. Let’s get started.
Last week, I printed the brackets, and oh, did that thing drone on and on. I’m not looking to print anything else for now, so I finally unloaded the filament and put it away. PLA filament is supposed to be stored in an airtight container, and I am fortunate a gallon Ziploc bag can barely swallow it. One tip I heard when first researching 3D printing before setting the printer up: on the side of the spool, there is a place to feed the filament so it doesn’t tangle while in storage.
Besides the brackets, my father and I are using some cheap wood for the frame and some spare Masonite panels for the siding. The door is being made of an acrylic sheet. Instead of hinges, I’m planning of making it slide out the top.
Construction this time has been much more straightforward than previously. We used a skill saw to cut three six foot pieces of 3/4 in lumber down to size… “Measure twice, cut once.” Good thing we bought extra for stock. Of course, after sending the ‘finished’ pieces back out for a round of quality control on the skill saw, we assembled the frame with the stunted, vertical edges. Those got swapped out after inspection. Had they gone unnoticed, the filament spool would have required accommodation through the roof, defeating the whole point of the project; to keep the cats off the printer.
As stated before, the side panels are fashioned from some Masonite we had occupying garage space. We cut a couple of pieces to form the back, sides, and top of the case. The side and back panels do not reach all the way down. The gap provides access to the power chord, switch, and various ports on the side. The bottom panel is absent; if anything bumps the case, it is isolated from the printer and won’t transfer the shock as readily. The top corners are cut to facilitate ventilation and dodge the corner brackets. The front panel, will be different. My father and I have run out of time this week, but the current plan is to make a panel to slide out the top instead of a hinged door.
Over the course of this project, the materials at hand have not always lent themselves to the exact plan. The hardware store didn’t have appropriate corner brackets, so I ended up printing them. The calculations for the wood for the frame were actually made with the assumption of eight foot pieces, they came in six. It’s only when you look for hinges that you realize just how many choices there are and how many won’t work for you. Roughly nothing about this case is untouched by design revisions.
Final Question: What projects have you adjusted for available materials?