How to enclose the top of a CoreXY printer?

I have a self-built CoreXY printer, to the G&C Printer design on Thingiverse. This works well but, like most open-frame printers, making larger things in ABS is a pain. I have a bed that will easily reach 100+C, but drafts and general room coldness result in larger prints warping and cracking.

Enclosing the print area is the obvious answer, and the four sides are easy, but I can't see how the top can be dealt with as the X-Y head and its associated cabling and filament feed get in the way. I'm sure that panelling the sides and leaving the top open would help with ABS, but covering the top would be even better.

I would be interested in seeing how others have handled this problem - photos appreciated!

... could be done with a card hood, high enough

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Quote
VDX
... could be done with a card hood, high enough

True, but I was looking for something more... sophisticated!

... my best choice would be Dibond (brand name of a plastic/aluminium laminate) and maybe some sort of edge-profiles or a common 20x20mm extrusion type ...

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Viktor
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Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

One thing you'll notice in many amateur 3D printer designs is that people don't think about how they're going to enclose the printer. I see a lot of corexy designs with the top of the printer's frame used to make the XY mechanism, resulting in the same sort of problem you're having. Wheels on t-slot linear motion usually causes the same sort of problem. The other thing not frequently considered until after the mechanical build is done is where to put the electronics. Many corexy designs put the electronics in the bottom of the printer, under the bed, which can be a problem if you need to work on the electronics because the Z axis isn't working. It can also be a problem if you enclose the printer because heat and electronics are a bad combo.

If your printer has a relatively small volume and/or is well insulated, the bed heater may be enough to get the chamber temperature up to the 50C that you'll need to prevent large or long/narrow ABS prints from warping or splitting. You may need to add an enclosure heater. Also, after the print has finished, you want to let it cool slowly, so forget about the idea of swapping out bed plates so you can start the next print quickly. When I print ABS I leave the print on the bed inside the warm printer until the bed temperature has dropped to about 40C which takes somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour in my printer.

I wrote a blog post on setting up a printer to print ABS.

One of the quickest/cheapest ways to enclose a printer is to put a cardboard box over it, but it's ugly. If you only print ABS once in a while, it may be the way to go. A better way is to make an enclosure out of foam insulation board- use PIR, not polystyrene. PIR doesn't burn or melt or produce toxic fumes like polystyrene. You can buy it a Home Depot for about $15 for a 4'x8'x1" sheet.

The best way is to design the printer to for ABS from the start. That means keep electronics out of the print chamber, design the mechanism to allow easy/spouse acceptable enclosure, and include chamber heater.

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Son of MegaMax 3D printer: [www.instructables.com]
Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

The top is the only real problem for my printer - sides, back and front would be easily managed. The electronics are in the spacious base of the printer, easily accessible at all times and well clear of the heat-bed - well ventilated too, with a fan.

A chamber heater may be required - not yet investigated. The heat-bed is mains-powered so not lacking in heating capability.

It looks as though I will need to extend the side panels upwards all around and add a lid, to provide a space where the cables and filament conduit can move around without losing heat upwards.