Pack for shipping after buit  

RE: Pack for shipping after buit

I would remove and pack the major pieces separately (extruder, power supply, control board, Y bed, Y frame, and X/Z frame).

If you don't want to take it apart, ziptie all the axis so they can't move. Get good solid packing to put between the printer and the container. I'd suggest 2" worth, but a lot depends on the material and the more the better. Make sure the Z frame is braced so it won't get jarred. This is essentially how the pre-built printer is shipped, though they go with a shipper rather than a mover...

RE: Pack for shipping after buit

I'm not sure where you are (so I don't know what products are available) so I'll assume that you can get similar products as to what I can here in the US. I've had good experience with packing and shipping things using SealedAir's Instapak Quick RT product line. They are expanding foam in a bag packing supports. You break the seal, mix the two parts by squishing the bottom of the bag (see the video in the above link and there are several others actually showing the product in use on YouTube), and when the expanding foam breaks out of the bottom portion of the bag and starts filling the bag you put it in the box and the object you want packed on top of it. The expanding foam takes the shape of your object, and the bag keeps the expanding foam from getting everywhere and gluing your object into the box. It's been a while since I've used these things, but one thing that I remember about them is they off-gas a lot of warm moisture that can condense on your object. So if packing something that doesn't like moisture (like electronics), you may want to unpack everything once the foam gets hard to let everything dry out before re-packing for shipping. For something like our Prusa printers, you might need someone to help you as you may want several bags ready at once because of the irregular shape. If you do use these expanding foam bags, I still zip-tie all moving parts into immobility first just to be extra secure.

Here in the US I can get these expanding foam bags from Amazon, or packaging material sites like ULine. Watch out what you order, you want the "RT" variant (stands for Room Temperature) otherwise you will have to warm the bags before using.

Good luck on your move.

RE: Pack for shipping after buit

Thanks guys for your replies, I'll probably do a bit of both, I have actually done some packaging in the past wrapping pieces in clingfilm and using foam spray to create a shell around. Cheers

RE: Pack for shipping after buit

Make sure the Z frame is braced so it won't get jarred. This is essentially how the pre-built printer is shipped, though they go with a shipper rather than a mover.