My machine has arrived—time to start detailed planning for the top enclosure.
Quick update：
1.What material should I use for the printed parts?
- I checked with the staff: the chamber temperature can go up to 60 °C, so PLA is out . Unless you plan to never print high-temp materials in winter.
- So pick a filament whose glass-transition temperature is above 60 °C. The cheap, easy choices are ABS, PC, or PETG.
2.Besides acrylic, are there any other options for the clear cover?
- I asked a few friends and they advised against acrylic; they suggested using translucent PC board instead — it handles heat much better and it’s the material most commercial enclosures are made from.
3.Which standard screw size can cover everything—ideally just one?
- Check the screw diameter first—the enclosure hardly bears any load, so M3 or M4 screws will be more than enough.
- If possible, screw-free assembly could also be considered.
4.The official dome is pretty tall; any tricks to cut down on material?
- I’ve sketched a Cybertruck-style double-slope roof, but the tricky part is routing the cable chain outside while keeping the print head and PTFE tube free, yet still holding enough heat in the enclosure. Like this：
5.Following the feedback, I’ll add a 5 V LED strip.
- If I want dimming I’ll probably throw in a Nano; whatever extra hardware it drives（maybe fans…）, the supply must handle the current.
- First choice is to steal power from the printer itself—if that falls through, I’ll just buy a ready-made module.
6.The extra space might as well be used to add a tool storage box.
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Quick update：2025-11-30
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Surveying enclosure
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If you want to design the top cover yourself, here’s the 3D model of the U1 enclosure and key structures I reverse-engineered, packed as an STP file.
(PS: dimensions are not 100 % guaranteed, but I matched the real specs as closely as possible.)
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Quick update：2025-12-08
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The structure I originally envisioned would require too many extra parts. Although I came up with a fairly feasible idea—using thin PC sheet, rolled up for storage and then unrolled— it still involves manual cutting and buying additional components, so I’d rather keep looking for a simpler, cleaner solution that others can easily replicate.
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I have reorganized my plan, analyzed the trajectory of the Teflon tube, and designed a frame that is as small as possible.
