Heated enclosure corner

thingiverse

I designed these corner reinforcements to be used in conjunction with half-inch thick foil-backed foam insulation to create a heated enclosure for my Prusa i3 MK2 printer. You can obtain four-by-eight sheets of this foam at most hardware stores, where it's available for purchase. The reinforcement makes a significant difference in the stability of the corners, which are designed to be attached by pushing a zip tie through the outer piece, through the foam, and then back out through the second set of holes, securing it tightly. I used PLA for this project, which may become slightly soft at high temperatures, but since it doesn't experience significant force, I haven't observed any distortion. The insulating foam is very effective at retaining the heat produced by the printer, allowing me to print up to 65 degrees Celsius with this setup. However, I do worry about the electronics at these elevated temperatures. Additionally, preheating the chamber can interfere with the PINDA (bed sensor) if you're using a Prusa i3 MK2. To resolve this issue, you'll need to adjust the live Z height adjustment to get it back down to the bed level. To further enhance the enclosure's stability, I reinforced the edges with foil tape and attached a lexan window to the front. Initially, I considered creating a set of doors with lexan to make the printer more accessible, but since it's easy to lift off the printer, I never pursued this project. One final warning: Any PLA parts inside the heated chamber will become soft if the temperature becomes too high. This can lead to serious consequences, as I learned when my spool holder gave up and a roll of filament fell onto the bed after the surrounding components softened.