Yet Another DIY Enclosure

[brvdboss]

Hello all,

I’ve seen some great DIY enclosures on the forum already which were very inspiring and interesting. Some references:

• DIY Enclosure ideas
• DIY Enclosure safety interlocks - any ideas?
• Sm 2.0 DYI Case
• My enclosure project

I’ve more or less finished my own one this weekend and figured I could share some results as well.

Why build my own enclosure?

Mostly because it’s in my basement/mini workshop and I wanted to optimize the space usage. Additionally, I had set myself the goal to keep costs under control and reuse as much of leftovers and scrap pieces as possible.
And although my SM2 was doing great without an enclosure. Using the laser wasn’t an option in the closed basement without proper ventilation, so I connected it to the ventilation of the house so I can vent outside.

Materials used

Purchased:

• I started with a standard shelf
  
  (sizes of the shelf 90cmx60cm and 180cm tall in total)
• 1 sheet of MDF to add the walls/doors
• hinges & to make the doors go open

total cost of these approximately 170EUR
Additionally some ducts to connect it to the ventilation system. Might not be needed for everyone

stuff I had laying around

• some u-profiles for the led strips
• led strips
• screws, nuts & bolts, tie wraps etc

result

Let’s start with some pictures:

I actually positioned the machine backwards as that makes it easier to change the toolhead, add a new filament spool etc. The power supply is outside the enclosure on the back wall, so I did have to lengthen that one.

The side doors are 3 pieces and fold together. Quite similar to those of the SM2 enclosure. The last part is actually fixed to the rack and can’t open. Maybe it would have been better if it did. it’s a bit annoying to not being able to open that last part. In that case it probably would be easier to have the device oriented to the front as you do have easier access to change tool heads etc.

When almost closed completely:

Onto the hidden side:

The back does have the wires, exhaust connection, power supply for the LED’s, a power block that can kill everything.

From the inside octoprint webcam):

Some notes/remarks

• the exhaust can be closed and opened very easily (turning the big “knob” to open or close. Or I can easily pull it just out of it which is suitable for lasering. This makes it also easy to just put a small dust filter or carbon filter in front for cnc and lasering.
• I’ve been making the thing up as I went. Just wanted to start from an existing rack. The goal of this thing wasn’t to be pretty, just to be functional.
• Drilling & cutting first and then measure doesn’t always work
• As already mentioned, I would consider to make the change that the last panel of the side can also open & close. I still might do that.
• I’ve put the SM2 on a big tile with some foam cushions underneath to reduce vibrating and shaking. Not sure if it would have been needed. but Stephan from CNC kitchen told me to do it (Seriously the BEST $2 3D printer upgrade! - YouTube). Additionally it gives me some space to hide some wires
• I used this mount for the power supply: Snapmaker 2.0 A350 Enclosure Power Supply External Mount by fastcompjason - Thingiverse
• The webcam is now positioned to the center & top. I’ll probably relocate this a bit lower and more to the side.

to-do’s

Actually use the machine

• find a place on the back to mount a small case for the raspberry pi with octoprint. Currently it’s lying on top
• Bring the touch screen to the outside somewhere (although not strictly necessary when using octoprint, but I actually kinda like the touch screen interface)
• bring the vacuum hose for when doing cnc.
• make some small changes to the wiring and octoprint so I can control the power and lighting from octoprint

Apart from the vacuum hose, none of these are essential to use the machine, so a good chance I’ll still have to do them this time next year

Other non related “upgrades”: use the extra linear guides to reduce the wobbling of the platform (mostly for faster/more accurate cnc). THey are already there int he pictures but aren’t used/attached yet.

the end

All in all I’m quite happy with the result. Definitely not as pretty as the official enclosure and the other DIY enclosures I’ve seen, but it just works and was relatively cheap to build. And I’ve got some additional precious shelf space for storing print related material that was otherwise sitting on my small workbench.

[marceldunk]

Great post . Great work, a bit more heavy case then what i build. Thanks for linking to my post .

[brvdboss]

Thanks. A bit more heavy, also a lot simpler. both in design and I assume build time as well . I think it took me about 12 hours or so including the time spent on finding and ordering the rack, driving to the local DIY shop etc.

Then again, it’s just in my workshop in the basement. I would prefer your version if it was in my home office . I just don’t have the patience to build one like yours.

[edf]

@brvdboss

I just don’t have the patience to build one like yours.

Amen to that

Mine certainly isn’t pretty but it does the job. When I have the time to properly carpent maybe I’ll make a nicer one. These things really don’t have to be as perfect as examples online would lead you to believe - basically keep the drafts off, provide some sort of temperature control (fans), and some sort of vaccum hookup for the laser smoke and the CNC dust. Though I may change my mind on that when I start printing nylon.

[linecraftart]

Wow! I love the enclosure and the idea. Seems like the shelf helps to place the table at a height that works well for creation without having to lean over, etc. in order to place items, change heads, and such. Great work.

[brvdboss]

@linecraftart

Seems like the shelf helps to place the table at a height

That was indeed the idea! And it is indeed a lot more comfortable to work this way

I did come back from having it placed backwards rather quickly. That ended up being more uncomfortable than expected.
A shorter last side panel would have been better, but it’s still very workable. (and easier than when I had it on my desk)
View from the side :

So far, very positive after using it this way for a bit more than a week. Still need to try the laser though, which should be a good test to validate the exhaust.