3D Printer Enclosure

French Door Hinges for a 3D printer box/enclosure. The box was made from 6mm acrylic/perspex and weldbonded together. SciGrip Weld On #3 Cement glue was used. This has the texture of runny water. It is highly volatile and irritating to skin/lungs. Gloves and goggles should be worn. A small 3mL sized plastic pipette was used as the applicator. The perspex was cut on a table saw with a fine tooth blade. The sides were held in place with masking tape and then a bead of cement was carefully squirted on the join. A bond forms within 60 seconds.

Print 2 of each part (4 x 2). Use a set of TWO 2.85mm standard 65mm nails to put the hinge parts together. The first nail that goes through will need the head cut off with a grinder. The top of the nails should face up so that they can never fall out. I.e. the hinge parts have a orientation (left or right side).

Print with high infill %. e.g. > 75%. The test print was around 70% tough PLA and worked fine.

The threads for the bolts are m3.

The door handles are m6 thread.

Each hinge requires a minimum of 6 to 8 ~25mm m3 bolts for the box part. These hinges are front mounting. Another set of 5 long M3 bolts will secure the door part. Use longer bolts on the door if you wish to add nuts to the other end. This is required if the door sags.

Print the box hinge parts with their flat part down. They take around 1.5 to 2hrs each. The door part of the hinges take around 5-6 hrs each. The threads are nice and tight. If they're too tight then use a m3 tap to slowly cut them.

Allow a 3mm gap at the sides of each door. If countersunk bolts are used for the box part then this gap can be decreased. If the door is quite thick material like mine (6mm) then an inside 45 degree bevel cut with a table saw is required on the outer edges of the doors.