UP! Plus / Afina Heated Build Chamber

cults3d

This is a Work In Progress, built in a rush, so I'll be uploading more details when I can. Temperatures in the office plummeted to below 50F after the heater malfunctioned. Builds were de-laminating and generally of poor quality. The heated build chamber consistently maintains around 50C, resulting in exceptional prints with no hint of warping. I'm concerned about cooling for the motor and extruder and plan to hook up an air pump to the extruder shortly. I used a compact heater from the thrift store to heat the chamber. It's called the "Worlds Smallest Big Heater" from the Sharper Image and works flawlessly. I imagine the extruder and platform would warm up the chamber without a heater, but I preferred having the option. So far, it has performed wonderfully well. The heater is connected to an outlet timer to automatically turn off after a while, ensuring prints aren't left unattended or forgotten. It features high and low settings; I've been using the High setting to achieve around 50C build chamber temperatures. I left the base of the printer outside the chamber as it houses all its vital systems. There's a slot on top where the filament feeder tube runs, and the spool mount is securely bolted onto a piece of plywood above the rear of the printer. Using the standard mount would have been more ideal, but I relocated the printer, making that mounting location unusable. The front and right sides are designed as doors for easy access. After using it for a while, I'm grateful I made them large enough. I'm also glad I left extra clearance space around the printer, especially vertically, which comes in handy when working on the extruder. If you were building one, I'd recommend adding a third door on the other side as well, but I ran out of plastic in my scrap pile. The doors are made of acrylic, and I believe the sides are either acrylic or polycarbonate (thin sheet). I created a custom build platform wider than the standard UP! build platform to accommodate the bulldog clips that could be struck by the extruder during large prints before the modification. The actual build tray is made of GRP and has been scratched up with a knife. I'd like to use my CNC machine to create a better-looking tray, but this one works well enough for now. I've never experienced print raft lifting from the platform since I started applying a thin mixture of ABS dissolved in acetone over the build tray every 10 prints or so, or after cleaning it. I've uploaded my Wall Thickness Tester STL file because I was required to upload something other than an image. The thicknesses start at 0.1mm and increase by 0.1mm incrementally.