3D Printer Lack Enclosure Project

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The_ID_of_Ed
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 23, 2019 4:31 pm
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3D Printer Lack Enclosure Project

Post by The_ID_of_Ed »

Hi Folks,

I thought I’d share one of my more rewarding projects that came out very well thanks to FreeCAD. I do a lot of 3D printing and one issue that comes with it is the rather toxic fumes that come from the heated plastic. So I needed a way of making an enclosure for the printer. The added bonus is the enclosure helps with heat control for some plastics where elevated air temperature can be helpful for keeping the parts from warping.

Lack thumb photo.jpg
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In the 3D printing community there has evolved using very cheep Ikea Lack tables as the bases for making the enclosure. So if you look on Thingiverse.com there's quite a few various designs. Naturally I had to come up with my idea which I think came out quite nice.

I did a YouTube video about the project for anyone that’s interested.

https://youtu.be/CdEYNWL4Mtg

So basically I needed a cheep and flexible way to eliminate 3D printing plastic fumes and help control the print temperatures to improve the print quality. There are quite a few variations of taking a very inexpensive Ikea Lack table and making it into a enclosure for a 3D printer. This is my take on the idea. Naturally I’m very pleased with my version and perhaps you may find any or all if its elements useful if your looking for a enclosure project.

Lack Cad Pic.jpg
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Probably the more notable element of my design was trying to address keeping the integrated control electronics cool. It’s probably not really necessary but it added to the fun of the design. That part of the design could easily be dispensed with, especially if the 3D printer that's going in the enclosure doesn't happen to be a Wanhao I3.

Lack Cad Pic back left.jpg
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I posted all the parts including the original FreeCAD models and the assembly files at.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5379173

The file that has the complete project assembly is called: Ikea Lack table based Enclosure.

The windows and door are 19.5” X 18.75” X .062” Lexan.

The exhaust fan I got is a Radial Fan part #: GDT12032S12B. It comes with a speed controller and seems to have quite a few sellers on the web.

Rubber feet I got from Ace hardware, 2.5” round, Ace #: 5425301.

Most all the screws I used were simply 3” long drywall screws. I used some shorter screws where possible. Basically any flat head screw will for the cabinet work.

The exhaust port was sized for some old shop vacuum cleaner hose I had around.

Lack Cad Pic back right.jpg
Lack Cad Pic back right.jpg (94.85 KiB) Viewed 1599 times

The thing that is really nice with cad is being able to assemble all the parts together and make sure every thing fits right. The assembly is also very handy for trying ideas and scenarios of various design concepts and to iteratively modify parts tell the idea work. For the assembly's I use A2Plus module. It’s been for me the most stable and reliable of the assembly modules I’ve tried.

Cad and 3D printed very satisfying fun.

- Ed
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M4x
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Location: Germany

Re: 3D Printer Lack Enclosure Project

Post by M4x »

Thanks for sharing! Could you add the FreeCAD version you've used here too?
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The_ID_of_Ed
Posts: 9
Joined: Thu May 23, 2019 4:31 pm
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Re: 3D Printer Lack Enclosure Project

Post by The_ID_of_Ed »

Sorry, I didn’t think to add the FreeCAD version info. I assume its useful for troubleshooting a file on a version that did original generate the CAD file?

OS: Ubuntu Core 20 (GNOME-Flashback:GNOME/gnome-flashback-metacity)
Word size of OS: 64-bit
Word size of FreeCAD: 64-bit
Version: 0.19.24267 +148 (Git)
Build type: Release
Branch: tag: 0.19.4
Hash: 476ecf091941bead59b14e44afa6064d5a66afa3
Python version: 3.8.10
Qt version: 5.15.3
Coin version: 4.0.0
OCC version: 7.5.2
Locale: English/United States (en_US)


M4x wrote: Sun Jun 05, 2022 6:23 am Thanks for sharing! Could you add the FreeCAD version you've used here too?
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