Mendel90 Flightcase Ideas

Taking inspiration from a Prusa Flightcase on Thingiverse (thing:14514) I've started designing a flightcase for my Mendel90.
The reason behind wanting the case is two fold,
1 - I wanted an enclosure to print ABS to maintain temperature and vent fumes.
2 - I wanted a way of storing and transporting the printer without having to worry about it as much.

So I found a bunch of Sketchup models on the 3D Warehouse for flightcase parts (by Medogio) and have started designing it in Sketchup. The measurements aren't quite right, it's a little large.
The top and bottom half use grooved aluminium extrusions so they fit neatly.
The yellow parts in the picture are the Dibond parts and the large box is the print area.

I've still got more details to add and obstacles to overcome.
Here's what I've got on my list to do

• Add handles
• Add latches
• Add window to the front top half
• Split the top half in middle and add removable hinges. This will allow me to feed the filament between the pieces so the front can be removed during a print.
• Add window to the front top half
• Add corner brackets
• Add panel to the bottom section for the power and USB

Anyone got any ideas or improvements I can make?

That looks really nice.

Presumably if you want to use this while printing ABS, you would need some clear panels, perhaps on the top/front and maybe the sides, and also an entry point for the filament?

Oh, and for the power cable?

I like the idea.

I was thinking about something similar but remember reading on one of these threads that the electronics don't like being in the "hot" part of the chamber. I started thinking about ways to have the electronics movable (perhaps via connectors that would allow me to attach the Melzi to the outside of the case during operation), but gave up after realising that I don't actually move my printer around often enough to warrant the effort and potential risks to print quality this might incur. I this something you'd want to incorporate?

I'm still thinking about a case for myself, but for the occasions when I'd want to take my printer somewhere, portability will be of highest priority. I'm wondering if I could take advantage of the fact that the entire upper section can be detached and laid flat against the lower one to reduce the volume I would need to enclose.

GizmoB73, had all your suggestions already on my list of things to do.

QuackingPlums, I was wondering about that. It's a bit of an unknown as to what temperature the case would reach when closed so it'll probably be a good idea to section off the back right corner and include a vent of some kind to that section.

Well it looks a great project in any case and I will be monitoring it as closely as you are willing to provide updates!

I had a hunt for the post about max temperatures for electronics and the only thing I could find was a link back to one of Chris' blog posts: [hydraraptor.blogspot.de]

I sounds like the electronics are happy running at anything up to 50C but it doesn't mention if the expected lifespan is affected by doing so.

I spent a little more time on it tonight. I decided to resize the case so it's 50cm in X and Y so it'll be more cost effective on extrusions as they come in 1 or 2m lengths.
I also added corner brackets which help join the edge extrusions.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/05/2013 05:39PM by Jonny1983.