3D Printer Enclosure Using IKEA MALM Chest of Drawers

by FrauMartina

8.0K10515

Intro: 3D Printer Enclosure Using IKEA MALM Chest of Drawers

I recently had to sacrifice my crafting room to make space for a home office, so my 3D printers got evicted and had to be moved to the living room. As amazing as 3D printers are, they can be real eyesores and don't blend well with the décor. I decided to build an enclosure within a popular chest of drawers from IKEA which would fit well in my living room. The size of the chest is perfect for any Prusa-variation printer, it's deep enough and tall enough for the printer as well as few spools of extra filament and a box of tools- the exact measurements of the inside space are as follows: WIDTH: 76cm / DEPTH: 42-44cm / HEIGHT: 46-47 cm.

This Instructable features a 4 drawer chest, but it would work on 3 and 6 drawer MALM as well.

I didn't provide any measurements, because it's pointless, since you can use different variations of this project and you will have to measure everything yourself and adjust accordingly anyway. You can use a chest of 3,4 or 6 drawers, put the shelf at the top, at the bottom or in the middle.

You can also customise this project to your exact needs: add LED strips on the inside to illuminate your prints, cut a hole in the backing for an extra fan or panel the whole interior in a soundproofing material.

STEP 1: Remove Drawer Runners

Use a screwdriver to unscrew two drawer runners from each side. Every flatpack comes with drawer runners already attached, so you will have to remove them whether your chest is old or new.

STEP 2: Move Second Slat to the Back

You have to move the second slat to the back of the chest. We will use it to create a shelf support, so it will have to be affixed parallel to the third slat. Carefully measure the distance and drill holes to accommodate a wooden dowel and a screw.

Use a masking tape to mark 7-8mm depth on the drill bit, drill carefully, so you don't drill through the wood.

STEP 3: Add Shelf Supports

For my supports I'm reusing wood from an old project. Each support piece is approximately 30cm x 2.5cm x 1.5cm with predrilled holes. Use wooden boards of similar size.

The front of my shelf has a 1.5cm rim. I wanted to have a slight border to prevent small screws, clips, tools from rolling off the shelf. If you want your shelf to have this lip, you will have to position the front shelf support as low as you can.

STEP 4: Add the Shelf

I used a 12mm thick MDF board. Cut it to 76.5cmx 42cm and treated it with MDF sealer. You can use plywood or melamine board instead of MDF. Since I wasn't bothered by the aesthetics, I went ahead and drilled a few screws directly through the top of the shelf, to make sure it's secure.

You can nail the back board to the assembled chest now.

STEP 5: Lift or Swing? Decide Which Hinges to Use

You have a few options here, it all depends on your budget and availability. Originally, I wanted the shelf door to open upwards, but I was unable to find hinges that opened beyond 80°. Another option was to get special hinges that opened parallel to the chest of drawers ( https://www.amazon.com/LIPOVOLT-Cabinet-Vertical-P... ), but shipping cost was astronomical. In the end I decided to use regular 130° kitchen cabinet hinges. To make it work, I had to slice those two top drawers in half and create doors.

STEP 6: Cutting the Top Drawers

At first, I cut the drawer fronts exactly in half, but they were too close together for my liking, so I cut them again, removing about 1.25cm from each end. That way, once they are positioned, there is a 2.5 cm gap between the doors.

Once the fronts were cut, I applied spackle (wood filler would work too) to the exposed sides and sanded it down to create a level and smooth finish. Spackle had to be sealed with a layer of PVA glue.

STEP 7: Hinges

I followed hinges' manual to fit everything the right way. If it's your first time working with hinges from scratch, watch YouTube tutorials and do some testing before drilling. I'm fairly good with that kind of stuff, but it honestly took me two hours before I finally found the right spot to position my hinges. Once everything was measured and I was sure where to drill, I used forstner drill bit to cut holes in each drawer front.

STEP 8: Creating the Doors

To create a set of doors, you will need a sturdy-ish board (plywood, mdf or hardboard) to connect the drawer fronts as well as create a fake background to cover the fact that we got rid of the front slat. I decided to reuse hardboard sheets leftover from the drawers.

I used a box cutter to cut each hardboard sheet to 38cmx41cm.

Once cut, I placed each sheet on top of each set of drawers (see pic.2 for measurements) and drilled short screws through to keep them together (pic.3).

Cut out holes for hinges like I did (last picture), or drill through the hardboard/MDF/plywood sheet with forstner drill bit.

STEP 9: Details, Fillers, Mistakes

Before we move to painting, we have to cover any holes, chips, scruffs and so on. If your chest of drawers is old or if you bought it used- take your time and really have a good look from all sides. It will be much easier to cover any imperfections at this point, rather than after your primer and paint has been applied.

I used wood filler to cover small scratches and chips and two part epoxy putty to fill in bigger holes. Once dry, I sanded those areas to even everything out.

If you want to add door handles, now would be a good idea to measure, mark and pre-drill holes. I forgot and had to do it once my first primer layer was applied.

STEP 10: Primer

I painted all parts separately. I removed all drawers and put them aside and separated my cabinet doors from hinges.

My primer didn't require sanding prior to painting, so I just scrubbed all surfaces with sugar soap to degrease them.

I applied two layers of primer accordingly to the manufacturer and let it dry.

STEP 11: Furniture Paint

Once the furniture was primed, I moved to painting.
I wanted to add a small pop of colour to offset the grey, so I painted all slats yellow before I moved to cover the rest of the chest. Since I only needed a small amount of yellow, I decided to use a small tester pot of regular wall paint instead of buying another can of expensive furniture paint. I needed three layers to make it opaque and smooth, but the end result was very good regardless. I used grey furniture paint for the rest. Two layers applied with a roller.

STEP 12: Finished

After paint dried, I applied two layers of matt varnish and added handles.

10 Comments

Insonic 2 years ago

Nicely done.

But please do not forget to add at least some kind of fire alarms to the inside of the cabinet.
Even with all the great thermal runaway security....it still can happen that they dont jump in... And to have a additional security line which is never needed is still better than to be sorry

SA38 2 years ago

I like the concept a lot. If the 3D printer runs longer jobs, I'd want to add a set of quiet Intake and Exhaust fans (scrounge some 4" to 5" PC fans) with HEPA filter for exhaust, to help cool the printer and prevent build up of plastic aerosols in the room's air. Intake fan on the back near the top, and exhaust fan set into a cutout in the bottom shelf holding up printer, so it exhausts out inside cabinet, and from there maybe out an external port near the bottom in the back. One DC power supply could power the fans.

This concept could work for laser engraving and small CNC systems too, maybe on separate shelves, or those fancy Snap systems that do it all.

JaenidasD 2 years ago

Tener un cabina para la impresora 3D, amortiguando el sonido y evitando cambios bruscos de temperatura es ideal. Además te abre mas el abanico de usar diversos materiales que requieren una temperatura ambiente mas alta. Pero en tu diseño veo una pega. Tener la electrónica dentro de la misma cabina, puede dañarla a medio o largo plazo. Yo lo solucioné habilitando un pequeño habitáculo separado para la parte electrónica y refrigerado con ventiladores para evitar sobrecalentamientos. Por lo demas una buena idea.

HickLife 2 years ago

This is pretty cool. Additionally you could add some sound deadening to it and you might even be able to run it in the background while doing zoom meetings or just working so it’s easier to concentrate

smj56 2 years ago

That is such a great idea to hide that printer. Now I'm thinking about doing that. Maybe up-cycle a similar chest. And put some rollers on that shelf so you can pull it out if you need to.

cfmsoft 2 years ago

Very interesting project. I am looking for a solution to hide my printer and scanner and this gave me ideas,,,
I point out also that I have kitchen cabinets which open upwards on those hinges, with a gas device to hold them open.

jrial 2 years ago

The paint makes all the difference.