Custom Cases

Skewworks (Inc :wink: ) has just placed an order for a 3D printer! Weā€™ll be offering enclosures for the full GHI line soon after the printer arrives.

If youā€™ve got any case requests go ahead and start posting them. I plan to have generic enclosures as well as some more fun ones like a Gameboy style case for the T35 with space for a couple of buttons (with 3D printed caps) , etc.

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Nice! Does your 3D printer take SolidWorks files? Which model printer did you get?

@ Iggmoe - Itā€™s the 3rd gen Solidoodle with an 8 cubed inch print area and heated bed. It accepts STL files, but SolidWorks and export to that.

Cool! Never heard about Solidoodle before, looks like a decent printer.

Iā€™ve read very good reviews of their product and one of the perks is it comes fully assembled and tested (unlike most of the 3D printers < 3K Iā€™ve seen).

Downside is thereā€™s a long turn around. 10wks to get it in, Iā€™ve reached out and they are going to try and cut a couple of weeks off that for me.

In the mean time Iā€™ll start designing some cases and upload 'em for you guys to look at. Donā€™t forget to post ideas as well. :slight_smile:

Sounds like youā€™ll be giving Steve some competition :wink: Iā€™ve never seen that printer before either. Interesting design. Looks like the bed moves up & down rather than the head. I canā€™t wait to hear your review. I have a 3D printer coin jar started. I keep hoping this will be the year that the prices go down and the jar goes up to the point that the two collide. It will be great to have you in my bag of tools until I get my own.

Steve and I should team up; his is laser cutting right?

And ya know you can always send me file to print. Iā€™m just a few hours drive away. :wink:

I can think of many things I want printed :slight_smile: this is good news

Actually, I thought his original plan was to do CNC & 3D printing. I think heā€™s still working the kinks out on the CNC though. I could be wrongā€¦

Donā€™t mean to piss on your parade (danish proverb donā€™t know if it translates), but -

  • I have one of those and though in many ways itā€™s a great printer there are some shortcomingsā€¦ You will do much well in studying the forum at soliforum, particularly digging out the newbie guides. Will save you a heap of problems.

Their extruder is infamous for clogging up, and to unclog it youā€™ll need to soak it in acetone or do what did i: Forum message ā€” SoliForum - 3D Printing Community (donā€™t breathe in the fumes!). Main problem is that the extruder is set in a puzzle of acrylic layers that you wonā€™t enjoy taking apart and putting back together again.

Best advice I can give you is this, get two extruders and, most important of all, before you print anything else print the Solidoodle Jigsaw Replacement Extruder mk4 by lawsy - Thingiverse extruder casing replacement parts. This will make it a breeze to get the extruder out and put it back in.

Also, itā€™s much recommended to print the raft - the initial layer that the model will be printed on top of - at a higher temperature than the standard config offers. If you donā€™t theres a risk of it not sticking to the build plate. Thereā€™s a ā€˜raftā€™ setting in the skeinforge software for that.

Incidentally, if youā€™re printing ABS plastic itā€™s essential you keep the enclosure on, to keep a high general temperature in there - to avoid warping/flexing the printed model. Especially important if youā€™re printing larger models. Ideally install a fan to immediately cool the melting plastic, too.

Last but not least(!), expect to be doing more maintenance on the thing than youā€™d thoughtā€¦ It can be tricky to get it right, and sadly the technology is not there yet that itā€™ll work out of the box like a regular printer thatā€™s maintenance-free.

Having said that, when it up and working and the models are turning out great, itā€™s a terrific feeling - Iā€™m guessing the same you guys get from having a perfect pcb arrive from seeed or something.

@ harleydk - ā€œPiss on your paradeā€ is known here too. :slight_smile:

Thanks for the heads up! Iā€™ll keep an eye on that extruder, if it does end up being troublesome Iā€™m sure I could find a more reliable one to replace it with.

Iā€™d be very keen on this, generic boxes with a cut for the T35 and standard DP modules seems like a good place to start.

Iā€™d like to see back-side panels for modules and mainboards just to protect them from shorts. If you could make some kind of interlocking design that would be really cool.

Great ideas. :slight_smile:

Iā€™ll work up a few when I can. Iā€™ve also been working on a case for the CP7 + Cobra II

I see the product of 3D Printer in a workshop. I find the problem is the printing time and the quality.

Quality seems to be a result of prep time. If you lay out your case properly and get the printer ready the only thing Iā€™ve found shy of injection molding is a super smooth edges and you can fix that with sandpaper or chemicals. :slight_smile:

Definitely not something that would be for normal sale through Skewworks but I can see doing some rapid prototyping for members so they are 100% before they go to injection molding.

If anyone is interesting in having 3D stuff printed but canā€™t afford a machine and only do a few every now and then, I would recommend www.shapeways.com for your designs.

I have used them quite a few times and the service and quality is good. Great thing is the colour choices! :slight_smile:

ā€¦or look up your local hackerspace, they may have a UP! or makerbot you can learn on ! (reminder to self: visit hackerspace again !)