Custom Ender 3 Print Head

thingiverse

This is my own design of a custom print head for a Creality Ender 3. While the stock Ender 3 is a good starter printer and is for the most part very reliable and easy to use there is always room for improvement. I saw what a friend of mine had done with an Ender 3 Pro and I recently bought it off him and it inspired me to do something similar to my own. This will fit to the existing plate for the printhead but you will have to take it right apart to fit everything together as the main plate of this project is held on by the screws from the rollers on the plate as well as the hotend needing to go in front of the main plate. For the most part this project is pretty easy to print and put together but there are a couple tricks I figured out after printing all of these parts multiple times during testing. When printing the centrifugal fan bracket, print it with the fan mating surface face up and make sure there is lots of supports to hold it down and limit the amount of bridging. I had to place a lot by hand to make it work so it might take a little trial and error.Also, the black parts in the pictures are made from ASA while the rest of the parts are made from PLA. While the whole thing can be made from PLA I would recommend printing at least the parts I did in ASA. It will just help the heat resistance. Although PLA will work. My first completed test was purely PLA and it worked like a charm and didn't take any heat damage. However I don't know if it would hold up to super long term printing I know it didn't fail instantly so that is good sign.All of the parts are pretty snug fitting so some light grinding or trimming will help things fit properly but it is designed to be tight to help hold up to vibrations. The whole build uses M3 socket head screws with 5mm wide x 6mm deep threaded inserts. You'll need a total of 21 threaded inserts.As for screws you'll need:X4 M3X25X4 M3X20X3 M3X40X15 M3X6I should also mention that I step down the main cooling fan using a buck converter from 24V to 12V. The reason I do this is because with the new design it cools so well that I almost have to try to cover the fan intake as is when I want the end to heat up because it cools so well. It's not very hard to do don't worry. All of the parts used in this project I got from a friend so I don't have the exact information on everything involved but I did my best to find everything on amazon and I'll put the links here so you can at least have an idea of what you'll need. It looks like everything all together will run you around $140CAD but the parts can probably be found cheaper elsewhere. I should say that if you have any questions leave a comment on this design and I'll get back to you as soon as I can and try to answer the best I can. Extruder:https://www.amazon.ca/GBA-SZC-Extruder-Performance-Upgrading-Printers-%EF%BC%88Type2%EF%BC%89/dp/B09PQNDN4C/ref=sr_1_39?crid=3M9OBMCG5YKX6&keywords=direct%2Bdrive%2Bextruder&qid=1696218340&sprefix=direct%2Bdrive%2Be%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-39&th=1Centrifugal Fans X2:https://www.amazon.ca/GDSTIME-Humidifier-Aromatherapy-Appliances-Replacement/dp/B07PLZWX8N/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=38QYL8YQ3VYFY&keywords=50mm%2Bcentrifugal%2Bfan%2B24v&qid=1696218781&sprefix=50mm%2Bcentrifugal%2Bfan%2B24v%2Caps%2C142&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1Main Fan:https://www.amazon.ca/Printer-40x40x19mm-Cooling-Bearing-Accessories/dp/B07KJ97JXQ/ref=sr_1_10?crid=2BCHAGM0P31RJ&keywords=4020+12v&qid=1696218505&sprefix=4020+12%2Caps%2C187&sr=8-10Buck Converter:https://www.amazon.ca/Valefod-Efficiency-Voltage-Regulator-Converter/dp/B076H3XHXP/ref=sxin_17_pa_sp_search_thematic_sspa?content-id=amzn1.sym.88b8493a-3875-4dce-9d00-0aeaf18dcaf7%3Aamzn1.sym.88b8493a-3875-4dce-9d00-0aeaf18dcaf7&crid=13IS9MJM5GEEG&cv_ct_cx=12v%2Bbuck%2Bconverter&keywords=12v%2Bbuck%2Bconverter&pd_rd_i=B076H3XHXP&pd_rd_r=ba920ce1-9486-46e4-9335-75ef011b9876&pd_rd_w=hmVa6&pd_rd_wg=YUmBk&pf_rd_p=88b8493a-3875-4dce-9d00-0aeaf18dcaf7&pf_rd_r=DFSBZDH9MZ957T6J3TGC&qid=1696218524&sbo=RZvfv%2F%2FHxDF%2BO5021pAnSA%3D%3D&sprefix=12v%2Bbuck%2Bconverte%2Caps%2C193&sr=1-4-acb80629-ce74-4cc5-9423-11e8801573fb-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9zZWFyY2hfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1Electrical Connectors:https://www.amazon.ca/WAGO-221-412-Lever-Nuts-2-Conductor-Connectors/dp/B07W4RQ6R6/ref=sr_1_11?crid=2VSSMIPVZLNTW&keywords=wago+connectors&qid=1696218548&sprefix=wago+%2Caps%2C167&sr=8-11Screws:https://www.amazon.ca/440pcs-Stainless-Socket-Screws-Assortment/dp/B01N3YT1OZ/ref=sr_1_15?crid=39ZOJU0T3P7I0&keywords=m3+screws&qid=1696219147&sprefix=m3+%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-15Threaded Inserts:https://www.amazon.ca/sspa/click?ie=UTF8&spc=MToxMzM4NDY1MzM2MDk5NjM5OjE2OTYyMTkxOTU6c3BfYXRmOjMwMDAwNTM5NTAzMzUwMjo6MDo6&url=%2FKnurled-Threaded-Embedment-Assortment-Printer%2Fdp%2FB08YYYTNHF%2Fref%3Dsr_1_3_sspa%3Fcrid%3D3KAVJSZ0KFRJZ%26keywords%3Dbrass%2Bthreaded%2Binserts%26qid%3D1696219195%26sprefix%3Dbrass%2Bthreaded%2Binserts%252Caps%252C153%26sr%3D8-3-spons%26sp_csd%3Dd2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY%26psc%3D1