Project Goal: Cheapest Badass Printer
- Anet A8 off GearBest for $150
- AM8 frame upgrade $50
- mosfet bed heater $8.59
- fiber GT2 belts $10
- Decent Tap
- JST XHP crimp pins and connectors Also, JST Crimp tool
- JST VH pins for the heatbed power upgrade
- Screws assortments are a lifesaver. this and This and This
- microsd-slot extender $10
- PEI sheet for the bed $15
Day 1:
It begins, finally received the AM8 parts.
For ease and cheapness of build, anything that isn’t really under a lot of stress and is a good distance from a heat source, I printed in PLA. Anything important I printed in ABS. Some pieces of the system I will remove from any proximity to the frame anyways, as it’s final home is figured out. So, for 1st assembly, PLA is fine for a lot of this stuff, is what I am figuring. All the 3d printed pieces of this project were printed with a Prusa I3 MK2, I have been printing with the Prusa for a year or so. The Prusa is enclosed, and well sorted machine, easily prints ABS, PETG, PLA whatever.
Day 2:
base frame assembled, still waiting on feet, some minor dissassembly to come, nothing squared up, nothing locked down.
- Y-axis motor mounted
- Y-axis rods and bearings seem ‘good enough’ for now. For a proof of concept, is good enough. Upgrade to H-bed and bearings here
Day4:
- H carriage mounted, finally found a good and adjustable y-belt holder.
- Frame is squared up
- Feet are mounted, X-axis tomorrow
Day 5:
- Z-axis extrusions have been tapped and mounted
- Z-axis aligned and squared to frame
- Heatbed strain relief printed
- Fan gaurd for the mainboard fan (used an old 80mm computer fan I had laying around)
Weekend:
Why do I have these entries labeled by day?
- Assembled and installed X-axis
- lcd and control mounted
- Power supply switch upgrade
- printed Power supply switch cover
A Week Later:
- Power Supply housing printed for the AM8 frame, switch mounted and wired
- Dual Mosfet Holder for the AM8 frame printed, mosfet mounted and wired
- Wiring and routing has been roughly figured out at this point, at least for calibration phase. A lot of unsupported sharp bends that need solved to become a real printer. Printed wire clips for AM8 frame
- Hotend mounted on X-axis and X-axis belt tensioner printed for Anet A8
- microsd-slot extender ordered
- PEI sheet for the bed ordered
- Power wires added to heat-bed. As pictured here. Crimp connector used. Crimp tool used
- Spade connectors used for the board connections of power wires.
- Ikea Lack table ordered for an enclosure
- Printer moved to it’s permanent home
This is basically the step where I think we have exceeded our $250 price target, but given the effort to this point, now this printer is a test mule for upgrades. Yes, linear rails are being figured out. Now. No real hurry due to New Year’s.
Mid-February Update:
- Printed Y-axis belt holder, works great, good geometry.
- mounted x-axis belt tensioner
- Everything works, mosfet for the heatbed works perfect, bed goes to 100, no problem.
- Printing risers for lack enclosure, will be typical perspex stuff, but solving it with 18mmx3mm neodymium magnets for closure. printing new filarment guide and spool holder, hopefully first print wednesday night?
Setup and First Print
- Bed leveled using the method Here
- 1st print achieved on the packing tape the bed came with, good ahesion
- 2nd print, did a benchy, good adhesion, finally tore the packing tape.
- PEI surface applied
1st benchy (2nd print on packing tape)
2nd benchy same .gcode (1st print on PEI)
Enclosure construction
- Ikea Lack Table
- Lack Table Risers
- Lack Table Filament Guide
- RGB Light Strip kit
- Light strip clips
- Spool holder (Best one I have found)
- Hardiebacker for the floor
- Rubbery spacers between cabinet and hardiebacker floor
Many people have had fires for various reasons with these Anet A8 printers. As a precaution, I have placed beneath my printer on top of some hardiebacker (tile floor underlayment) to provide ‘some’ fire protection. Especially since it is on a wood cabinet. The cabinet itself was previously used to hold a 100 Gallon aquarium. It is basically a 2×4 frame structure lag bolted together. Beneath it is enough space for a CR-10 printer and a couple of 5 gallon buckets for filament storage.