Custom 3D Printer Cart Hides Clever Features

Even if you’ve got a decent sized workshop, there’s only so much stuff you can have sitting on the bench at one time. That’s why [Eric Strebel], ever the prolific maker, decided to build this slick cart for his fairly bulky Ultimaker 3 Extended printer. (Video, embedded below.) While the cart is obviously designed to match the aesthetics of the Ultimaker, the video below is sure to have some useful tips and tricks no matter which printer or tool you’re looking to cart around the shop in style.

[Eric] made a second video on sketching out the design.
On the surface this might look like a pretty standard rolling cart, and admittedly, at least half of the video is a bit more New Yankee Workshop than something we’d usually be interested in here on Hackaday. But [Eric] has built a number of neat little details into the cart that we think are worth mentally filing away for future projects.

For example, we really liked his use of magnets to hold the plastic totes in place, especially his method of letting the magnets align themselves first before locking everything down with screws and hot glue. The integrated uninterruptible power supply is also a nice touch, as it not only helps protect your prints in the event of a power outage, but means you could even move the cart around (very carefully…) as the printer does its thing.

But perhaps the most interesting element of the cart is that [Eric] has relocated the Ultimaker’s NFC sensors from the back of the printer and into the cart itself. This allows the printer to still read the NFC chip built into the rolls of Ultimaker filament, even when they’re locked safely away from humidity in a sealed box.

Now all you’ve got to do is apply for the loan it will take to pay for all of the MDF you’ll need to build your own version. At this point, we wouldn’t be surprised if encasing your 3D printer in metal would end up being cheaper than using wood.

8 thoughts on “Custom 3D Printer Cart Hides Clever Features

  1. Nice build, really matches the printer aesthetic. I made my 3D Printer table from an IKEA BEKVÄM a few years back.
    https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/p/bekvaem-kitchen-trolley-birch-30240348/

    Surprisingly, for an IKEA product, it’s a solid wood table (birch). Way more solid than the LACK, and a good height.

    I left off the two casters and trimmed the legs down 100mm, trimmed all the top sides flush with the legs, and re-positioned both shelves to accommodate the height of a filament box on each:
    http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/data/500/IKEA_BEKVAM_3D_Printer_Table.jpg

    It’s been absolutely perfect for my ALDI printer. Next mod is for a swing-out printer tools drawer at the front, using a cut-down IKEA plywood merkur box.

  2. Nice build. I made my 3D Printer table from an IKEA BEKVÄM a few years back.
    Surprisingly, for an IKEA product, it’s a solid wood table (birch). Way more solid than the LACK, and a good height.

    I left off the two casters and trimmed the legs down 100mm, trimmed the top sides flush with the legs, and re-positioned both shelves to accommodate the height of a filament box on each:
    http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/data/500/IKEA_BEKVAM_3D_Printer_Table.jpg

    Next mod is to add a swing-out printer tool box from a cut-down IKEA plywood merkur box.
    (posted this earlier but Akismet seems to have grabbed it)

          1. Sadly no. IKEA have online ordering and delivery in-country, but you can’t order online from any IKEA and have it sent to another country.

            Some enterprising individuals have set up shipping services to fill the gap, but they add a huge premium.

            I’ll just have to wait. As someone once said, IKEA is already here, it’s just not evenly distributed.

  3. “At this point, we wouldn’t be surprised if encasing your 3D printer in metal would end up being cheaper than using wood.”

    For a while now I’ve been watching for an inexpensive source of metal carts and metal cabinets in order to make my currentlly mostly wooden 3d printer more fire safe.

    I could have sworn that when I was a young kid metal cabinets and metal carts were super common household items. In particular I think I remember kitchens having metal tables on wheels that often had power strips attached to one of the legs and were common for people to put their coffee makers on. I also think I remember big metal boxes with fronts that were doors that swung open and hooks to hang things inside, basically ugly boxy wardrobes were a common thing too, often set in an enclosed porch to keep coats or in a bathroom to store toiletries.

    Not that I would have paid much attention to such things then. And I don’t really remember everything changing, stores stopping selling them and more modern furniture taking their place.

    But it seems like if this were real I could just go to some garage sales or a flea market or something and find them still. By now my printer should be fireproof!

    Am I crazy? Am I imagining things that didn’t really exist?

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