I’m brand new to all this 3d printing/cnc/laser stuff. I ordered the 350 and it will be my first experience with a 3d printer. I homeschool 4 kids and hope it’s something they can really get into. I’ve already invested significantly in the printer, it has not arrived yet, do I need this enclosure? I’ve heard the printer is extremely loud, and that it can help with ABS printing. Are these the main benefits of the enclosure? Should I get it, it is not inexpensive.
Thanks for any thoughts!!
@Volktronic The printer is moderately loud (think like an office copying machine noise level) the enclosure will help with fumes, noise, dust, and probably most importantly it will stop smaller children from putting there fingers inside the machine while it is running. Keep in mind that it has not been safety tested for laser protection (don’t let your kids watch the laser run without OD 6+ rated glasses the ones included with the machine are not protective enough), those are the facts.
My opinion is that it is not worth the price. I think it would be better to build your own if you have that level of ability. There are alot of guides online on how to build an enlosure, and i think doing so would make a good homeschool project. But that is just my opinion.
Happy making,
-Atom
I have a 350A as well as the enclosure. It is a beast but, I’m glad I have it. It doesn’t mute much of the noise as the power supply fan makes more noise, but it does keep the laser beam contained as well as venting the fumes. It is expensive and a bear to put together, but I’m glad I got it. It is also quite big, 32"X24"X24" and heavy when put together. It might be a good safety measure for the kids.
JD
I would like to point out again that there is no actual proof of this… I would not trust it as laser safety around my children… it’s like using sunglasses as a welding mask. It will look darker and it might help, but no one knows for sure, or how much if it does. Because it has not been tested. And my children’s eyesight is far to important to take that risk.
The enclosure isn’t badly priced for what it is. To make the the equivalent you’d spend 80% of what it costs. If you’re doing ABS you need to worry more about venting the fumes. There are a lot of alternatives to ABS nowadays that are less toxic and easier to print. Fumes are a problem with laser too. Whether it’s just smelly or irritating or actually toxic depends on the material. CNC is dusty.
Amber acrylic should be fine whether tested or not. I did a lot of research before I built mine with #2422 amber acrylic. It’s pretty basic physics. If you want to be sure, the best price for safety rated is jtech photonics. https://jtechphotonics.com/?product_cat=safety-gear Lots of enclosure ideas on SM FB groups.
What concerns me more is the choice of using green glasses for what comes with the SM. For a 445nm laser amber glasses are usually recommended. There are a couple colors of green that are okayed for use with that spectrum so they’re probably fine. It may be because it’s easier to see to focus than the 3rd party amber ones I got. But then that’s not really comforting that I can see it better.
If you don’t mind your enclosure getting some marks on it you can do a test with a piece of tissue paper. (If you have darker or black tissue paper use that because darker colors react more to laser. White reflects more.) Set the focus to laser the paper. Place the acrylic over it and then laser vector a line at slow speed. (Make sure focused on paper not acrylic) If the paper isn’t affected the acrylic is doing its job.
Try this with clear acrylic or glass and it will burn the tissue paper.
That being said, do this all at your own risk and do your own research and make your own decisions. I use both my enclosure AND safety glasses anytime I’m working with it. Why risk it?
I have an enclosure for temp and dust and fumes. I have the amber acrylic so if I happen to go out to the garage I don’t worry about me or my family accidentally looking at it. If I’m working in the garage I prop up some panels around it.
if I had young kids I would get safety glasses for all of them, use an enclosure with amber acrylic and have some sort of panels to surround it.
-S
Right now I’m planning my own enclosure. I canceled my order in the survey because it is not laser tested. There are also several gaps where you can look into the enclosure that are not covered by the windows. The Snapmaker enclosure would be OK with cnc or printing, but I wouldn’t want to use it with laser. The eyesight of my kids is too important for me.
I plan to have metal walls except for one side. There will be a laser proof acrylic window. Depending on the price I might consider more windows.
You can also fix a Webcam inside the enclosure that would be the safest ^^
I’m using an old iPhone to watch remotely and do the occasional time lapse.
-S
I just made my own enclosure while I await the delivery of my Snapmaker 2.0. Around $100 and much lighter than the one sold by the company.
@Anakin26 looks nice! I would love to see your material list and any building instructions you might have.
I simply used wood for a frame(dimensions of the wood pieces are 1.5"×0.75"). I made it close to the same size as the official Snapmaker enclosure, which I don’t recall those numbers offhand. I ordered a 12"×24" laser safety plexi from JTech Photonics. The backside is a thing plywood and the rest of the sides are made from corrugated plastic(the stuff most political signs you see in yards are made from). I bought a small exhaust fan that I attached to the back on the plywood. I used furniture racks to hold the corrugated plastic to the wood frame and used good quality white duct tape to seal all edges. Used gorilla glue brand double sided tape(very strong) to hold the laser plexi in place and also used the duct tape on edges to ensure it doesn’t move.
Mine is much lighter than the official one that is listed as 22kg…I bet mine ways no more that 7 lbs?
Hope this helps, total cost was around $100-110.
Ahh so yours is a lift off enclosure (doesn’t seem like there are any doors) very nice, never thought of using corrugated plastic. Wonder how it will hold up to the 8w laser mod (im a worry wort) but definitely some good ideas there. Thanks for sharing!
Yes, no bottom on it so it will just go over it. Not sure about the 8W upgrade being compatible with the enclosure…for now I’m anxiously awaiting the machine itself, I imagine the upgrade won’t be in my immediate future so I’ll have time to research it.
Good luck.
