How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
Hi MINI owners,
3 things go together: there is a manufacturer for aluminum extrusions in town, it is fun to use FreeCAD and a new Prusa MINI arrived. 🙂 The outcome: see pictures. I dubbed it K's MINI Enclosure:
Power supply and other stuff like Raspberry PI etc. get mounted on DIN Rails on the bottom side:
If you like this type of enclosure and wish to build your own, feel free and do it. It's open source, all data is available on my project homepage at katerkamp.de and files reside on Github.
BTW, this may even be of interest for those of you intending to build wooden enclosures and waiting for delivery of the MINI. FreeCAD files contain all needed mechanical dimensions, so it is worth installing FreeCAD.
I have no clue if there is some interest in this kind of metal based enclosure. Please drop a note here what you think of it. If there is interest in buying frame kits (just the extrusions drilled and tapped) I'd look into details and ask for quotes at a sheltered workshop nearby. However, there is more to it. All required 3DP parts should be printed with ASA or ABS - which needs an enclosure. Kind of chicken and egg problem.... (I have no experience with other materials, material as seen on the pictures is ASA.)
Have fun.
Stefan
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
I like the idea and appreciate you sharing all your work! For my taste it's a little bit too complicated, I think, I'd simply stick to a box. 🙂 But I will definitely will implement some of your ideas in my own casing. I'll try to convert this: http://www.rc-network.de/forum/showthread.php/736771-quot-Mein-quot-Druckergeh%C3%A4use-der-quot-HomeCube-quot to the mini.
Great work, keep the updates coming! 🙂
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
I wonder if you could print the 2020. You'd need to come up with a way to join sections.
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
btw. i still wonder what the realistic footprint of the mini is for xy and z., cables, bed travel and everything included?
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
Thanks for the replies. Yes it is quite some work to build it. Your i3 box also looks good and I had a similar idea first. However, I built a Voron2 before this one and I did like the ideas there, so I went for this more complicated but smaller enclosure.
Re footprint of the MINI: I started off by drafting the MINI using FreeCAD part workbench, a quick and coarse job. The enclosure does fit fine with the MINI I received, so dimensions measured and modeled into CAD seem to be good enough. There have been some updates on MINI parts recently (in its Github hardware repo), but they do not seem to have an impact on its overall size, which means even the updated MINI should fit. The CAD file of the draft is PrusaMiniOutline.FCStd in the K-MINI-Enclosure repo and it looks like this:
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
Thank you, I installed FreeCad but found it a bit cumbersome to get a good measurement so I exported it as .obj and took the measurements in Fusion360. 🙂
If I'm not mistaken (and I rounded up a little), those should be fine?
depth: 460mm
width: 360mm
height: 480mm
I really like that you placed the electronics outside the enclosure. Did you have to lengthen the wires?
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
Sure. The dimensions seem to be OK for me, inner side, cover to cover surface. The K-MINI-Enclosure is 40cm x 45cm (54cm incl. handles) x 49cm (Width x Height x Depth) including Quicklocks. No cable mods needed on my MINI, including filament sensor.
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
@skat
nice. I like the all see-through style of your enclosure...comes in handy and looks pretty neat 🙂
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
Looks cool but what I am really worried about is those legs. I think vibration will be an issue at some point.
Original Prusa Mini + Smooth PEI
Prusa Slicer 2.6.0
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
Legs have two supports inside and get printed with horizontal layers. 3D prints behave somewhat like concrete. Prints can take lots of compression but cannot take much tension orthogonal to layers. In addition there are 2 M3x50 screws per leg to take extra horizontal or other forces. So no issues with these legs.
However, you are right as vibration is an issue indeed, not in term of force but in terms of noise. The initial design had the printer mounted directly with clamps to the enclosure. With 2mm polycarbonate panels attached and Y axis moving, this assembly did behave like a loudspeaker and vibration noise amplifier. I then mounted the printer inside the enclosure on soft rubber mats. That did work well. (Design of the new brackets is still work in progress. I'll upload it to the repo as soon as they are ready.)
RE: How to build a MINI enclosure with 2020 I-Type extrusions (w/ pictures)
@skat
Ok I see! Looking forward to the results!
Original Prusa Mini + Smooth PEI
Prusa Slicer 2.6.0