3D printer enclosure

These do-it-yourself 3D printers usually have lots of exposed cables and electronics. So, unless you have a dedicated area or room, putting them in some sort of an enclosure is a good idea. An enclosure is also recommended if you plan on printing using ABS. A sudden breeze from an open window can mess up your ABS print real good.

One of the most popular DIY enclosures is using a couple of IKEA LACK square tables. You can stack them one on top of the other and use plexiglass panels as walls/door. You do need to add some braces and/or height extensions but since you already have a 3D printer it’s easy. You can find many relative designs in Thingiverse and choose the one that suits your needs.

The problem with the LACK enclosures is that, although very functional, they usually are not pretty enough for a living room. And the only place available in my home for my 3D printer is a corner in my living room. So, I had to take an alternate route. It had to be:

• big enough for my Printer and a roll of filament.
• able to blend in with the other furniture in my living room.
• low cost.

After some googling, I found a pretty good match. After a short trip to IKEA, I returned home with:

• a 60cm (W) x 50cm (D) x 64cm (H) STUVA Frame (priced at 35 euros).
• a 60cm (W) x 64cm (H) SINDVIK glass door (priced at 25 euros).
• two 75cm LEDBERG led bars (priced at 13 euros each).
• I also used 4 old IKEA cupboard legs I already had laying around. They cost about 10 euros.

On the floor of the enclosure I put a couple of railings and a 40x50cm wooden board. I fastened the printer on the board to make it more stable. The board can slide in and out thanks to the railings, so that I can service the printer if necessary.

Then I printed 3 wall-mount spool holders. One is used to hold the filament spool (with the help of two spool adaptors). The other two are used as braces for the printer.

Finally, I drilled a couple of holes in the back of the enclosure, for cabling and a 12cm exhaust fan.