Enclosure for Taz 4 3D Printer

September 20, 2015

I've owned a TAZ 4 for around 9 months and it has been a pretty frustrating experience to date, resulting in me getting very little value out of this printer so far.

The issues are not specific to the TAZ 4, which I think is a great piece of hardware, but more an issue with having it sitting in my home office. I work from home, and generally work long hours, meaning that I haven't been able to use the printer often (the combination of noise, heat, and fumes mean I can't be in the room for extended periods when it is running). Also, I've run into issues with prints cooling down too quickly and peeling off the bed.

To solve all of these problems I have now moved the printer to the garage and built a very simple and low cost enclosure out of plywood. The first test print ran for nearly 6 hours and turned out perfectly. I should have done this right from the start.

IMG_20150920_155022913

The cost of the enclosure was well under $100 and the bill of materials (all from Lowes) was:

  • 1/4" x 24" x 48" plywood sheets x 4 (back, sides, top)
  • 1/4" x 3" x 48" plywood strips x 2 (top and bottom of front)
  • 1/4" x 6" x 48" plywood strip x 1 (to fill gap in top)
  • 5/8" x 5/8" x 36" wooden beams (for supports)
  • 18" x 24" acrylic sheets x 2 (the doors)
  • Hinges (for the doors)
  • Magnetic pads (to keep the doors closed)
  • Wood glue and wood screws (very short ones)

The basic size of the enclosure is 36" W x 30" D x 24" H, although mine ended up being 36 3/4" wide due to a miscalculation of how the hinges would work, and this is why there is a 3/4" gap where the doors don't quite meet.

I managed to find a great low cost workbench to put the enclosure on. The workbench is made by Edsal and the SKU is UBM4830. I managed to buy this for $108 including delivery from Walmart.com (fulfilled by zoro tools). The workbench is 30" D and is very sturdy.

The enclosure does not have a base and can therefore be lifted off when required. I had thought about making a lid with hinges but my woodworking skills are limited and I didn't want to over think this.

For lighting, I'm using some holiday lighting but I plan to make something a bit nicer using some Adafruit neopixels soon.