CR-10 Enclosure by JesseGills

Last crawled date: 2 years, 11 months ago

Hey guys, this is a printable enclosure that I designed for use with my CR-10. I did a fair amount of searching and wasn't satisfied with the cost or design of several of the enclosures available for the CR-10 and other larger printers, so I decided to design my own. This enclosure is fully-customizable and can be scaled up or down to your desired size simply by using longer or shorter wooden dowels. I will add support brackets in the near-future to make larger enclosures feasible.
This design in total cost me under $50 to build and prints relatively quick (about 6 hrs). It uses materials easily acquired from Home Depot or other hardware stores, and best of all, it's fun to build. At the bottom I will include detailed building instructions as well as a list of required and optional materials I used to construct the enclosure. If you have any questions, feel free to comment and I'll do my best to answer them promptly.
The design uses 3/8" wooden dowels available at most hardware stores and Home Depot. The corner brackets and dowels create a frame structure that can then be covered by a multitude of different materials.
I opted to use 4 mil thick plastic sheeting as the covering as it was semi-transparent and provided a means to keep the heat in. Any heat-resistant material will do though, and I may experiment with additional materials in the future.
The 4 mil sheeting that I chose is available at Home Depot for around $12.00. I secured the sheeting in the desired shape around the frame using seaming tape designed for the plastic sheeting. Any tape will do. In addition, for the doors I used a zipper designed for the same sheeting which allows easy access to the print bed.
There are several additional parts that I created that can be affixed to the enclosure. I designed a vent that I would highly suggest using to release excess heat from the enclosure. I designed them to be mounted to the top of the enclosure and to use either one or two depending on the size of enclosure desired.
I also created a thermometer holder that is designed for the Acurite Humidity Monitor available at Home Depot. This will allow you to monitor the internal temperature and humidity level of the enclosure as needed, and will also allow you to fine-tune the vents for desired internal atmoshpere. See below for detailed assembly instructions.
There is also a filament inlet that can be used in any location that allows the spool to be mounted external to the enclosure if desired. There is also a port for the wires and harnesses so that the power supply unit can remain outside the enclosure. Keeping the power supply unit outside the enclosure is highly recommended due to the strain from high-heat that it will encounter if left inside the enclosure during printing.
If you can think of any other accessories that would be helpful on this enclosure, please let me know.
Required Materials:
(8) Corner Brackets
(12) 3/8" Wooden Dowels (Cut to desired length)
(1) 4 mil Plastic Sheeting (Other materials can be used)
(1) Roll of Seaming Tape (Other tape can be used)
Optional Materials:
(1) Tarp Zipper (Very Helpful)
(2) Vents (I highly recommend using the provided vents to let off excess heat during printing)
(1) Acurite Humidity Monitor (Great tool for monitoring internal temp. and humidity)
(2) 1/4 x 1/4 x 0.1" Neodymium magnet (To secure the thermometer in place)
(1) Spray Paint for desired color
Building Instructions:
(1) Print all required and Optional Parts for your enclosure.
(2) Measure out the desired size for your enclosure.
(3) Aquire the non-printable required and additional parts as needed.
(4) Measure out and cut the wooden dowels to desired length.
(5) Create the frame by putting the wooden dowels into the corner brackets.
(6) If creating a large enclosure and sagging of the dowels is noted, use support brackets as needed.
(7) Place your printer inside the frame and evaluate for proper fitment.
(8) Once proper fitment is achieved Measure out the needed lengths of plastic sheeting (or other material) that will be affixed to the frame. There are two options at this point. The easier option is to place the sheeting outside the frame and cover the frame. The other, and more aesthetically pleasing option would be to mount the plastic sheeting inside the frame and secure it to the frame with loops of tape or clasps (I may design clasps in the future for this purpose.
(9) Cut the plastic sheeting to the desired length and tape the pieces together forming a box that will fit your frame.
(10) Mark out and cut the holes for the vents, thermometer, filament port, and wiring port as needed. Note that these are designed with a lip that will sit on the outside of the enclosure so that they can be secured through the cut holes in the plastic sheeting. Your plastic sheeting should be snug enough that these parts don't sag.
(11) Using glue or tape, affix the vents, thermometer mount, filament port, and wiring port into the cut holes.
(12) Once the additional parts are installed on the plastic sheeting mount the plastic sheeting to the frame.
(13) If desired, mount the zipper and cut as instructed on zipper package.
(14) At this point, the enclosure is complete and you can move your printer inside and begin to route the wires and filament was desired.
(15) You will need to ensure that no part of the printer is touching the frame or the plastic sheeting for safety.
(16) You will also want to mess with the vents to see if you need them open all the way or partially closed to maintain optimum internal temp.
I hope this proves helpful and happy printing!
Once again, feel free to reach out with any questions.
Links and Cost Analysis
3/8" Wooden Dowel: $1.29 eahttps://www.homedepot.com/p/3-8-in-x-48-in-Raw-Wood-Round-Dowel-HDDH3848/204354371
Acurite Humidity Monitor: $12.00https://www.homedepot.com/p/AcuRite-Digital-Humidity-and-Temperature-Comfort-Monitor-00619HD/202260980?
HDX 4 mil Plastic Sheeting: $12.98https://www.homedepot.com/p/HDX-3-ft-x-50-ft-Clear-4-mil-Plastic-Sheeting-RSHD403-50C/204711656
Homax Tarp Zipper: $10.27https://www.homedepot.com/p/Homax-7-ft-Clear-Tarp-Zipper-Door-3142/206526231
Dolphin Seaming Tape: $6.47https://www.homedepot.com/p/Linzer-2-36-in-x-30-yds-Blue-Dolphin-Polyhanging-Tape-TP-POLY-SEAM-0236/308569556
Total Materials Cost: $49.46
3D Printer Enclosures can be dangerous and/or a fire hazard if not used correctly. Build/ use at your own risk.