Ender 3 Enclosure

Made from 1/2" baltic birch plywood.
Designed and G-Code generated in Fusion 360
Hinges and knobs are 3D printed

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Awesome work!

Nice job.
However I am curious why does a 3d printer need an enclosure?

@MarkA.Bachman there are a couple reasons. First and foremost the printer is in my basement workshop with an X-carve which can still be very dusty even though I have a dust boot. If the print bed gets dusty then the print will not adhere to the build surface.

Second thing is my workshop is not heated and the prints function better with a normal ambient temperature. My basement is 25x50 and open air, so it can get a little chilly depending on the time of year. Some materials delaminate if they are not kept at an ambient temperature throughout the entire print.

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great enclosure. I am having the same issues with my Ender 3. It had been housed in my laundry room but momma requested it moved down to where my machine is in the basement I was thinking about doing the LACK enclosure but I think something like this will be a better solution.

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@BlueLocktite If this is something you want to do, here is an easel version. You would need to update the material thickness to be the exact size you have.The items that I chose to 3D print are attached below. Hardware for the hinges are M3x25 socket head cap screws and hardware for the knobs are 1/4-20x3/4 button head cap screws. Acrylic was cut to 1" oversize from the openings.

I also had to design and add a filament guide to keep the filament feeding correctly.

Hinge.stl (1.1 MB)
Enclosure Knob.stl (1.0 MB)
Filament Guide.stl (92.7 KB)

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very cool of you to share that. thanks. I will let you know when I build it

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3D printers also give off toxic fumes.

This is great. I need to build one for mine.

Just a suggestion, you should move your power supply outside of your enclosure. It will get too hot with it in the box. Power supplies need cooler air to keep cool. Also, most enclosures move the filament outside too to keep from melting on the spool.

Great work.

@KevinJett I would compare this one to the official creality enclosure in that everything is inside the enclosure currently. I plan to also install a temperature sensor to monitor the temperature inside the enclosure, but the changes you’ve discussed are all things I have considered. Step one for me was relocating it from what is becoming my son’s room to my workshop.

That’s pretty cool, looks good and inspirational.

I just picked up a Prusa i3 and since I also do woodworking, I’ve been thinking of making a nice wood enclosure as opposed to the typical Ikea Lack design a lot of people make.

I really like the idea of melding CNC Routing and 3D Printing.
Great Job! :smile:

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Sorry for the unrelated questions but i see that you have direct drive setup. have you had any issues with it have you printed flexible filament. BTW excellent job on the enclosure

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@BryanGee I have not had any issues printing with it at all. The install took about 30 minutes and had some really good video guides. Loading filament is a lot easier as well.

I have not printed TPU, but the person who recommended it to me does and gets much better prints with the mod.

https://www.fargo3dprinting.com/products/ender-3-direct-drive-upgrade-kit/

Please, would mine sharing the fusion archive file? Thanks

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@FelixKotey @ChrisWeiss The F360 file can be accessed from my A360 link here.

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@ShaneJamerson Having used your enclosure for a couple of months now, I wonder if there is anything you’d do differently in retrospect?

For example, maybe an easy way of getting to the filament spool? I’m not criticizing at all. I’d like to build one and want to learn from your hard-won experience;-)

@DarranEdmundson Functionally it does everything I wanted it to do. The door on the side was actually put in place to allow for access to the filament spool, and it has helped quite a bit.

Things on my to do list:

  • Relocate electronics to the outside of the box
  • Design a door mounted tool holder
  • Design or print a new stand for my Wyze cam that is used for monitoring the print
  • Add rubber leveling feet to the corners
  • Add a power strip to the unit so I have only a single cable coming off

@ShaneJamerson I’m (finally) about to embark on an enclosure for my Ender 3 Pro using your design as a starting point. I’m curious if you’ve added any of the features on your “to do” list over the last six months?

I have changed things a little. Post some pictures here if you build it!

Moved the spool holder into the frame in a different position for a better routing
Added an OctoPi
Added wifi plugs so I can remotely turn it on and off
Added auto bed leveling

Hi @ShaneJamerson! I would like to use your design as a start of my own enclosure! I’ll post pics when Im done!
Is it possible to download the F360 archive you linked above, or it is only viewable on the web?
Where did your spool holder end up finally?

Im thinking of adding a hidden compartment either under, or on the side, for the electronics :slight_smile:

take care!