3D Printer Box

[bainin]

One of the kiddos got himself a 3D printer. Knowing nothing about these things aside from asking someone to mockup demos for me at work, I looked into them a bit to understand the materials used in the process.

Turns out the various plastics (filaments I think they call them in the print world) evolve various levels of gases during the melt/cure process. All of them are listed as some level of toxic.

The kids printer uses a material called PLA (Poly Lactic Acid) which is low on the toxicity scale, but everywhere it is recommended that these things not be run in bedrooms, etc.

Of course-he wanted it in his bedroom (my shop wasnt good enough !) . A complex print job can have these tools running for 10+ hrs..all the while evolving gas into the room ...yes you can smell it.

So-we built him a box out of scrap plywood and 2x4, had to buy some plexi sheets to form the walls.

For venting I had some leftover 2.5" flex tube and an adapter which we ported to a simple board insert to go in his window when in use.

A 110AC computer fan evacuates the box thru the flex hose.

He was so annoyed with the delay in printing, he didnt want to stain/paint the box haha.

 

[HITCH-]

Very cool
I guess he could print out some 3d embellishments to cover the box instead of painting it.
Is the PLA on a spool?

 

[Echd]

Putting PLA in an enclosure isn't necessarily advisable. It probably won't hurt anything but most advise to open the doors of enclosures for PLA printing, and to close it for ABS or other more warp prone plastics. PLA prints easily but needs a good deal of cooling, and a higher ambient temperature in an enclosed chamber will offset some of that.

Ultimately not much of a concern though. PLA is generally very easy to work with. Most PLAs won't have much smell at all, though.

Now if you want to stink up the place... wait until he wants a resin printer! Ugh! I only use mine in the garage. Easy to use and accurate but it smells terrible!

 

[bainin]

Very cool
I guess he could print out some 3d embellishments to cover the box instead of painting it.
Is the PLA on a spool?

Yes-the PLA filament is on that black spool mounted on top of the box, it feeds thru a small hole to the interior and onto the printer itself.

 

[Michael Mathews]

Note that when he's not printing he should store the spool inside of a ziplock bag and use a vacuum to evacuate as much air as he can. When left out in the open air, PLA and other filaments degrade and in some time will no longer be able to use to print.

 

[bainin]

Note that when he's not printing he should store the spool inside of a ziplock bag and use a vacuum to evacuate as much air as he can. When left out in the open air, PLA and other filaments degrade and in some time will no longer be able to use to print.

Thank you Michael-thats good to know !