Viki LCD v1.0 Makergear M2 Case

thingiverse

While the old Viki LCD v1.0 has been replaced by v2.0, they're still pretty useful and available on eBay. Some have suggested that they're a great bargain for folks wanting to add direct controls to their printer. So after putting this off for about half a year, I finally got around to building a case for my MakerGear M2's Viki LCD. The mounts and dimensions are based on my 2013 MakerGear M2, which was continually revised since then, so I'm not sure if there have been significant changes in the position of mounts. But I made sure that the mounts line up perfectly with my printer. The general design was inspired by whoDat's Viki enclosure (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:113083), and I've incorporated enough design elements to consider this a remix of that design, but the overall dimensions, position of mounts, size of the case, and position and size of opening in general are quite different. I kept the rib design elements on the lid, which when I assembled my design, it became obvious the ribs were intended as lid reinforcements. I undermined this a bit by taking the opportunity to enhance ventilation by making openings in these design elements. Despite this, the lid remains pretty rigid and lets light from the RAMBo board through, which some might consider a nice benefit. The case is designed to mount the Viki using M3 bolts and nuts. There are pockets for nuts to make assembly easy. The bolts and nuts used to mount the original RAMBo board case to the M2 can be used to mount this case. I shrank the RAMBo portion of the case a bit (relative to the M2 case) and made three basic designs where the Viki enclosure is either aligned with the left, center or right of the RAMBo portion of the case. I've posted all three of these. There are two variations on the Viki portion of the case: The extended version is a fully enclosed case. I often have wires and other conductors on my desk that can wriggle up into bare electronics and cause havoc, so I felt it was a good idea to encase all of this. But for those willing to take the risk of having something shorting Viki circuitry, the flat bottom version is the one to print. The primary benefit of the flat bottom version is that needs less (about 40%) filament to print (significantly lower need for support). Of the design options, I printed the centered, extended case for my own printer, which is a nice balance of solutions to design challenges. I've posted photos of how this version fits into the M2, including how it fits under the build platform when its completely lowered. Printer Settings: * Printer Brand: MakerGear * Printer Model: M2 * Rafts: Doesn't Matter * Supports: Yes * Resolution: 0.4 mm nozzle * Infill: 30 - 60% * Notes: This is a very big object, taking a lot of plastic (~1/3 - 1/4 of a 1kg roll) and many hours to print (15 - 25 hours, depending on your settings). So if your printer isn't stable and capable of long prints, this might be a frustrating build for you. I don't recommend this object for novice/beginner users of their printer. While it doesn't matter if you use a raft or not, the case is much easier to remove from the build plate if you use a raft. I suggest printing with PLA instead of ABS due to size-related shrinkage concerns that can make fitting to the M2 difficult. Once printed, snap off small ring supports in the M3 bolt sockets under the RAMBo portion of the case. The position of the bolt holes for the RAMBo board are based on published design specs and might be a bit off for your board (I had ~0.5-1mm discrepancy), which can easily be remedied by shaving plastic away with an X-acto knife. Viki Documentation Inquiry: While most Viki operations are straightforward, I think I could get more out of the Viki if there was more instruction on its use. If such a document exists, please post it or share a link to it. Thanks in advance!