Heated 3d Printer Enlosure , Reprap, Prusa,I3, Makerbot

Intro: Heated 3d Printer Enlosure , Reprap, Prusa,I3, Makerbot

I tried ABS printing which was part failure as when it cooled some layers split and some warp-age, after research i learnt that i needed a heated enclosure so the filament cooled gradually and also needed to prevent draft, so all parts cooled evenly, I can now get this box up to around 50c which is more than enough.

STEP 1: 3d Printer Heated Enclosure Box

This is my heated enclosure for a 3d printer to help stop warp-age and draft when using ABS

Bottom and top boards are 1 inch ply, cut 21x24"

side bars are 2x3 wood at 19" length

30" Piano hinge which was cut down to 19". Available from any good hardware store, mine came from Ace Hardware, cost was $4.50

2x magnetic catch's

1x brass door handle

3mm Lexan although perspex would be fine

tin foil covered with Mylar over the top of the which was stapled around the edges of the inside top part to reflect the heat.

Threaded rod for the extruder with lock nuts to hold in place, mine was 3/8 although 10mm will be fine.

I drilled a hole 2 inches in front of each extruder holder, in the top board so the filament can come through, i drilled a small hole and simply cut a disposable drinking straw 1.5" long and glued through the hole to use as a filament guide (flush on top and the extra half inch hangs below,as in pic)

The heat source is a basking lamp holder with a 150w infrared 150w heat bulb from a local reptile store and the thermometer also from the same store, all by a company called Exo-Terra

Lamp holder part number- PT2057 - I paid $32.99

150W bulb part number- PT2146 - I paid $14.99

Thermometer cost $2.99

Total box size to house a 12" ave sized printer 60.1cm depth, 50.6cm width, 50cm height

Total cost was around $65 as i already had the wood

Since added:

Air vent.

dual spool holders with bearings taken from thingiverse.com.

Comments

[fbujold]

With a 6 month retrospective on this, Did it do the job? (warping)

[stefanied]

does the job, seems to produce enougth heat on its own so the heater mostly is not needed, as for warping, sometimes but mostly if the bed calibration is off, i switched to glue stick for abs and now the print seems to be too stuck to the bed, nothing a mallet cant fix :)

[fbujold]

As far as adhesion goes i bought (2 weeks) the Builtak product and so far it does the job without any adhesive of any kind. Of course i still have that abs issue but that is another subject

[peabody1929]

The best way to print ABS plastic is to use a heated build platform in a sealed enclosure. You have built a great enclosure. Why not add the heated build platform? Place the heater under and in contact with the aluminum build platform in your printer. Cover the surface with Kapton tape. Heat the build surface to 115 degrees CENTIGRADE. Then print the ABS plastic with an extruder temperature of 225 C. The inside of the enclosure will be near 100 degrees C so let everything cool down before openning the chamber.

[troy.dawson.77985]

I have a Da Vinci which as an enclosure and I print at 210C and 90 for the bed and it still warps the upper layers when printing big. So I think this is a great idea that I need to incorporate.

Thanks :)

[stefanied]

i hardly use the heat lamp but it is there if i need it, i print at 230c and 80c, i used to have the wraping effect so i added 1mm thick circles to the corners of the prints, then i found elmers purple glue stick to use instead of hair spray and that seems to work so much better.

[troy.dawson.77985]

Thanks for the reply, by warping I meant delamination of the upper layers, my glass bed with a glue stick (put a fresh layer on every print) is working fine but every 10 prints or so i hit it with alcohol and a scraper and clean it all off and start again.

I found the smaller items are fine but soon you print something over 5cm (2inch) it starts to delaminate, that's why I was thinking of an overall heated enclosure. I heard it's also patented by Stratasys but I guess it doesn't matter if you are not selling it ;)