Printer Enclosure

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Dave K
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Printer Enclosure

Post by Dave K » Wed Apr 30, 2014 3:42 am

Just thought I'd share this. Our new M2 at work is in what used to be a server room, cooled to meat locker temperature. The breeze is cold and constant. PLA prints, even using Elmer's glue stick, were warping pretty badly. After putting up this makeshift enclosure, and keeping the fan off for the first 12mm, the warping on these parts is almost nonexistent. It's not pretty, but it is functional, and shows that even PLA can benefit from an enclosure when the printing environment is bad.
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These parts were interesting to print. The first prints were taking over 3 hours and the switches were not printing well. So I ended up using 3 processes. The first one, for the base, used 0.3mm, 20% infill and no fan. The second process for the next 0.7mm (the top layers of the base) used 0.2mm, 100% infill, no fan, and the third process for the switches and knobs, used 0.2mm, 100% infill, fan 100% and default print speed cut in half (2400 instead of 4800). The changes cut print times by a half hour, even with the slowed printing for the switches/knobs, which printed much better at the slower speed.
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jimc
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Re: Printer Enclosure

Post by jimc » Wed Apr 30, 2014 4:22 am

hey nice enclosure

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Dave K
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Re: Printer Enclosure

Post by Dave K » Wed Apr 30, 2014 5:07 am

Ramshackle, but it does what I need it to do for now!

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jimc
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Re: Printer Enclosure

Post by jimc » Wed Apr 30, 2014 5:11 am

looks like a nice metal case......or is the box the lid? lol

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Dave K
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Re: Printer Enclosure

Post by Dave K » Wed Apr 30, 2014 5:29 am

The metal portion is actually three sides, which fold up like a tri-fold type billfold. The wall is the forth side of the enclosure. And yes, the box IS the lid! It was about 5:30am a couple mornings ago when I got fed up with the lifted corners and warping, saw the metal thing, found a box, and... instant enclosure. The prints are flat now so I'll put up with the odd looks!

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ednisley
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Re: Printer Enclosure

Post by ednisley » Wed Apr 30, 2014 12:56 pm

Dave K wrote:the switches were not printing well
Have you tried printing the bases as separate parts, with sockets / alignment pins for the switches & knobs, then gluing them together? A hole with a glue gutter works well: http://softsolder.com/2013/11/12/improv ... 3d-prints/

You could then print the switches with different speeds-and-feeds than the knobs and other features, which would reduce the production time even more. Printing a forest of a dozen switches would take about as much time as printing a few, because each layer would have enough cooling time to avoid slowing down. When they're done, pick the best of the litter for your panels.

Although that's not as applause-worthy as printing the whole panel-with-switches as one lump, a single failed switch won't scrap an entire panel.

Of course, when you need an inventory management system for your rapid-prototype parts collection, you've got a different problem... [grin]

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Dave K
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Re: Printer Enclosure

Post by Dave K » Wed Apr 30, 2014 5:56 pm

That's a great idea. I wasn't really thinking in production terms (my job is actually software, but I've been enlisted into this because I've got an M2 at home). I was given output files from our CAD system to print, and just worked with what I was given, but if I have to do them over again...and I probably will, once the human factors people have had their say...I'll see if our CAD guy can work up something just like you describe, with separate bases and switches.

I've only got a couple left to do, and at this point it's pretty much a fire-and-forget process (checking on it occasionally). But next time, alignment holes are going in. I like that!

jbarnhardt
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Re: Printer Enclosure

Post by jbarnhardt » Wed Apr 30, 2014 6:24 pm

Dave, very nice use of the multi-process functionality. S3D proves the worth of its unique approach quite well in this case! Nice looking prints.

-John

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