The Smell of Molten Projects in the Morning

Ed Nisley's Blog: Shop notes, electronics, firmware, machinery, 3D printing, laser cuttery, and curiosities. Contents: 100% human thinking, 0% AI slop.

The New Hotness

  • Prusa MK4 Bling

    While figuring out an X Axis homing problem (about which, more later), I printed a bunch of add-ons for the Prusa MK4, all from printables.com.

    Stipulated: Using something other than black PETG and PETG-CF would make them more like bling.

    The heatsink fan gets a scoop inlet to keep fingers and tools farther from the blades:

    Prusa MK4 - fan cover - fan duct
    Prusa MK4 – fan cover – fan duct

    The small upward duct on the right side directs the exhaust air away from the platform. This is apparently critical for very high-temperature plastics like ABS and PC, but I did have one print fail due to excessively cold breezes on the platform.

    I made three different ducts in case I break one:

    Prusa MK4 - fan ducts on platform
    Prusa MK4 – fan ducts on platform

    The aluminum extrusions now have dust covers:

    Prusa MK4 - Extrusion cover - front
    Prusa MK4 – Extrusion cover – front

    There’s also an angled heater cable connector cover, with a matching cover on the electronics box routing the cable rearward to dress it away from the hulking extruder cable:

    Prusa MK4 - Extrusion cover - rear
    Prusa MK4 – Extrusion cover – rear

    And the Z axis stepper mounts have tidy dust covers:

    Prusa MK4 - Z axis motor cover
    Prusa MK4 – Z axis motor cover

    None of which are necessary, but they’re all easy to print while thinking of other things.