Easy UM2 "Door"

[entomophile 9]

I have been doing a lot of printing in ABS lately; some very large parts. And of course I am having issues with warping. The basement where I print is pretty cool and I thought that could be adding to the problem. So I decided to make a lexan cover for the front of my UM2 to prevent drafts and hopefully even out the temperature in the build chamber.

I cut out a piece of 12" x 12" lexan. Originally I was going to hold it on with neodymium magnets but they weren't strong enough. I would have had to drill out my UM2 and insert opposing magnets in the case.

Finally, I settled on velcro for a quick, air tight, and completely reversible solution. Full 1" strips down the sides and half strips at the top and bottom. It's not nearly as elegant as Kris' door, but it works. I have to make a few more prints to see how much it helps without a top cover. I am hoping the convection currents from the build plate can stabilize the temperature without a top cover.

 

[personal-drones 43]

Velcro is a great idea, thanks for sharing

 

[gr5 1,249]

And to cover the top of the printer - One of those boxes that holds paper is the perfect size in all 3 dimensions. These boxes are from office supply companies like stapes and are sitting around near photocopy machines at work. Tape it to the top of the UM2 and there will be a nice gap in the back for the bowden to move around. With a front door and a top, and with the bed at 100C to 110C you will get an air temp of around 40C which means your ABS will shrink half as much as normal during the printing phase (and then shrink the second half after printing is done. This is now similar to PLA.

PLA shrinks about .3% from glass temp to room temp (60C to 20C). ABS shrinks about .6% from glass temp to room temp (100C to 20C).