Portable 3D Printer-In-A-Suitcase Documentation
Portable 3D Printer-In-A-Suitcase
Towards a more rugged portable desktop 3D printer
Inspiration
This project was inspired by e-NABLE’s global mission to provide 3D printed prosthetic devices to children and the underserved, and as a means to fulfill that mission in remote locations.
It was conceived as a straightforward project, retrofitting an off-the-shelf printing platform (with a well-established support community) and hardware allowing it to fold or separate into transportable components.
The Creality Ender-3 Pro 3D printer is an inexpensive yet robust printer with a small footprint and a build volume of 220 x 220 x 250mm. The extruded aluminum frame can be modified with basic hand tools to accept a wide array of aluminum extrusion hardware. The Ender-3 is a workhorse, a very durable, inexpensive, and dependable machine.
Design Concept
An Ender-3, a Pelican hard case, and a Pelican hard case with backpack strap conversion kit installed.
To facilitate transport, we designed the portable 3D printer to be contained within a wheeled hard case fitted with a backpack conversion kit. Users may choose to include an additional satchel or saddle bag(s) for carrying 3D printer filament.
A Pelican™ 1510 Carry-On Case fitted with a RucPac Hard Case Backpack Conversion kit.
We were able to divide the Creality Ender-3 3D printer into 6 major components, and through trial-and-error found a configuration allowing all components to fit inside of the Pelican case in a nested fashion. Dividing the 3D printer into these 6 components required removal of several machine screws holding the frame together. Though the printer components could fit inside of the hard case volume, they needed to be secured for transport to prevent issues which may arise from shifting contents.
Closed Pelican 1535 Air case with Creality Ender-3 3D Printer inside.
When the case is opened, the 3D printer can be seen affixed to and held in place by a coroplast (corrugated plastic) sheath. We decided to use coroplast as an inexpensive and highly-engineerable material to provide a packing structure for the 3D printer. The walls of the coroplast sheath extend high enough that they touch the inside of the lid when the lid is closed. This keeps the coroplast sheath (and thus the printer) from sliding around inside of the case during transport.
Materials
We decided on the Pelican Air 1535 as it was the largest suitable Pelican case which still fell within the standard overhead bin maximum dimensions of 9”x14”x22” (22 cm x 35 cm x 56 cm).
A Pelican Air 1535 watertight hard case.
The company RucPac produces a backpack conversion kit specifically designed for Pelican hard cases. Purchasing this conversion kit allowed us to transform the Pelican hard case into a wearable backpack, which we believed would serve us in places we might not be able to roll the hard case, or that would be too far away to comfortably carry by its handle.
Back View: A Pelican Air 1535 hard case with attached RucPac Hard Case Conversion backpack straps.
The waterproof Pelican case with backpack conversion was still small enough in form factor to not be uncomfortable bulky.
Side View: A Pelican Air 1535 hard case with attached RucPac Hard Case Conversion backpack straps.
We purchased the Creality Ender-3 3D printer for use in this prototype. The Ender-3 style 3D printer lends itself much better to modification and breakdown than a printer with 6 walls, like a MakerBot or Ultimaker. In this way, by simply removing a few machine screws, much of the printer can be taken apart and put back together again with relative ease.
Creality Ender-3 Pro 3D Printer
In addition to these large components, the following were used in this project:
- (1) 4x8 sheet of white 4 mm coroplast
- Coroplast cutting tools
- Hot glue gun and hot glue
- Desktop 3D printer and 3D printer filament
- Velcro Straps
- Scissors
- Utility knife
- Allan wrenches
- Straight edge and measuring tape
Coroplast Parts
3D Printer Insert
Coroplast (corrugated plastic) is made of polypropylene and is similar in dimension to standard cardboard. At just under 1/4” (~4 mm), this material generally comes in 4’x8’ sheets and is easily cut and manipulated, yet is extremely durable and strong, especially when force is applied in the direction of the corrugations. Notably, if the coroplast is sliced on only one side of the sheet, the material can be bent along that sliced line, and can be held in a bent fashion by adding hot glue along the bent edge and holding in place until the hot glue has set. Hot glue can be used to build all of the structures detailed in this write-up.
An insert was devised that would act as a containment and suspension jacket for the 3D printer components, allowing the entire packed unit to be placed into/lifted out of the Pelican hard case. The interior of the Pelican hard case is irregular (see next figure), so these dimensions needed to be transferred to coroplast. Square holes were additionally cut from the coroplast to later accept some 3D printed structural components.
Interior View: Pelican Air 1535 hard case.
Interior View: Pelican Air 1535 hard case.
We took measurements of the interior of the Pelican case and designed a coroplast insert that would be the main containment unit for the disassembled 3D printer.
Drawing of insert portable 3D printer insert.
Note that the base of the Ender-3 was slightly wider than the interior of the Pelican case bottom, but fit perfectly if flipped upside down as the interior of the Pelican case was slightly wider at the top.
Fully assembled portable 3D printer insert.
To create the insert, transfer the measurements below to a piece of coroplast and cut out with an utility knife or pair of scissors. Along the two dotted lines, cut through only one half of the coroplast sheet, so that the sheet can be folded along those lines. With the left and right flaps folded up along those dotted lines at a 90 degree angle, the insert should fit snugly into the Pelican case, with the base laying flat, and the flaps coming up the sides of the hard case interior.
Dimensional drawing for portable 3D printer coroplast insert, full view.
Dimensional drawing for portable 3D printer coroplast insert, detail view.
Dimensional drawing for portable 3D printer coroplast insert, detail view.
Four square holes should then be cut, which will be lined with 3D printed inserts to accept the legs of the 3D printer base.
Dimensional drawing for portable 3D printer coroplast insert with cut outs.
Commercial or Large-Scale Manufacture
Laser Cutter
Corrugated plastic sheets are made from polypropylene and can be cut with a CO2 laser to produce clean-edged inserts, rather than doing it by hand.
Stamping
The inserts can be stamped out with an industrial die from corrugated plastic sheet.
There is a bit of room between the underside of the closed lid and the packed 3D printer, so a coroplast stabilizing insert was built. Once installed, it would fill that gap and provide some cushion while holding the parts securely in place.
Coroplast stabilizing insert
In the drawing below, each square represents one corrugation, or one cell within the coroplast. To reproduce this stabilizing insert, first cut a base from the coroplast 11” long and 19 corrugations wide. Follow the rest of the diagram, building layers of coroplast to match the profile shown. Use hot glue to secure all pieces together.
Dimensional drawing for coroplast stabilizing insert
There was room after all parts are packed into the Pelican case for a small box to hold additional supplies. A drawing is not necessary — simply use the space to your advantage. The dimensions to work within are: 5.5” x 4.75” x 1.5”.
Coroplast box for miscellaneous tools and supplies
A very simple method to retain the filament roll holder using a single Velcro strip and a coroplast backing was designed, and can be placed in the back right corner as shown. For reference, the coroplast backing is 4.25” x 1.5”, which mates with the space on the back of the filament roll holder.
Filament roll holder retainer.
We added a coroplast retainment structure which we secured to the coroplast insert to receive part of the 3D printer as it is being packed up. In this way there is less of a chance for the 3D printer to shift in transit, and it becomes clear how to pack away the printer into the suitcase.
Coroplast retainment structure.
Once built, secure the retainment structure with hot glue in the spot shown below. Be careful not to glue this structure over the dotted line, indicating where the coroplast insert folds up 90 degrees.
Dimensional drawing for location of coroplast retainment structure.
Build this retainment structure from coroplast and hot glue according to the following profile.
Dimensional drawing side view for coroplast retainment structure.
Finally, we made a small coroplast retainment structure for the control panel. This was very free-form, using the profile of the control panel to indicate where to cut and bend the coroplast material.
Control panel retainment structure.
3D Printed Parts
The coroplast insert was designed with four rectangular cutouts to eventually accept and hold the legs of the 3D printer base. As these rectangular cutouts will likely take damage over time, 3D printed reinforcing leg retainers were designed to line the inside wall of these coroplast cutouts. The critical dimensions of the leg retainers are: Inside dimensions - 46 mm x 40 mm; Outside dimensions - 51 mm x 46 mm; Wall thickness - 3 mm. The legs of the base are constructed from 40 mm x 40 mm aluminum extrusion but have small rubber feet on the bottom, 6 mm thick. When the leg is inserted into the reinforcing leg retainer the rubber foot compresses slightly, holding the system in place very well in the coroplast insert. A small lip was added to one side of the leg reinforcer to help seat it in place, and to be slightly more aesthetic. In this way, the 3D printed reinforcing leg retainer needed to be inserted into the coroplast insert cutouts from the outside face.
3D printed reinforcing leg retainers.
The frame of the Ender-3 is constructed with mostly 20 mm x 20 mm aluminum extrusion. Thingiverse contained many examples of 3D printed plastic clips for use with this size aluminum extrusion, and we experimented with many of them.
Rendering of 3D printed clips
What proved most useful was a humble little cable clip titled YACC (Yet Another Cable Clip), Thingiverse thing number: 2731180, which mates with the extrusion as shown below and can be easily modified to be any length someone needs.
Rendering of YACC from Thingiverse
To immobilize the print bed in transit, we used a GT2 belt clamp design, Thingiverse thing number: 3317497. The GT2 belt clamp has ridges that complement the GT2 belt ridges, and by mating it with the y-axis GT2 belt and wrapping Velcro around the clamp assembly, the belt and therefore the print bed, will be immobilized.
Rendering of GT2 Belt Clamp from Thingiverse
Printed GT2 Belt Clamp from Thingiverse
When the x-axis/extruder assembly is eventually removed for packing, the z-axis lead screw is no longer retained at its end and becomes a cantilever with great potential to be bent or otherwise damaged. To mitigate this, a 3D printed lead screw stabilizer was made to maintain the lead screw’s position in transit.
3D printed lead screw stabilizer.
Unnecessarily, but for a bit of e-NABLE branding and flair, some aluminum extrusion end caps we designed with the e-NABLE logo and applied to the ends of some of the Ender-3’s extruded frame pieces.
Rendering of e-NABLE themed 3D printed aluminum extrusion end cap.
Finally, as a way to retain and hold some supplies, including a roll of tape for the 3D printer bed, a circular materials holder was designed, printed, and fixed to the coroplast insert using hot glue. A second, square part was printed around which cable, string, fishing line, etc. could be wrapped for compact storage. The four pillars within the materials holder were designed to hold rubber bands used in many e-NABLE designs.
Rendering of 3D printed tape and materials holder
Image of 3D printed tape and materials holder.
Printer Modifications
By design, very few modifications were made to the 3D printer itself. No cuts were made to the extruded aluminum frame to change the form-factor, and no hardware (hinges, etc.) was added to the machine as has been added to other portable 3D printer concepts.
Assembly
The 3D printed reinforcing leg retainers should be inserted into the cutouts in the coroplast insert and hot glued in place.
3D printed reinforcing leg retainer hot glued into coroplast insert cutout, interior view.
3D printed reinforcing leg retainer hot glued into coroplast insert cutout, exterior view.
Components
Our final design Includes the following:
- Ender-3 3D printer
- Pelican Air 1535 hard case
- RucPac hard case conversion kit
- Coroplast insert with retainment structure, materials holder, filament holder attachment point, and 3D printed reinforcing leg retainers all assembled
- Eight Velcro strips
- GT2 belt clamp
- Fourteen YACC’s
- Coroplast stabilizing insert
Packing and Unpacking
Packing the Portable 3D Printer
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Unplug the power supply cable from the wall, unplug the power supply cable from the power supply, and unplug the x-,y-,z-, and e- stepper motors, unplug the power supply from the micro controller, and unplug the control panel.
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Remove the Bowden tube from the extruder motor assembly.
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Remove two screws holding power supply in place, and set power supply aside.
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Remove two screws holding control panel in place, and set control panel aside.
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Remove two screws holding filament roll holder in place and set aside.
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Remove the 12 machine screws shown, carefully placing each component onto the work surface as they become free from the machine. Lift up and remove x-axis gantry assembly from the two vertical aluminum extrusion supports, the left of which the z-axis assembly is attached to.
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There should be six main disassembled frame pieces: the H-shaped base, the y-axis/print bed assembly, the right-side vertical support, the left-hand vertical support with attached z-axis assembly, and the top horizontal crossbar.
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Rotate the y-axis assembly 90 degrees counter clockwise (when viewed from above) from its original position and reattach y-axis assembly to the H-shaped base using 4 of the previously-removed 12 machine screws.
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Secure the print bed by using the belt brake, as shown below. Be sure to position the print bed correctly.
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Secure the right side vertical support and the top horizontal crossbar as shown below with YACC’s and Velcro strips. Note that at each end that the support and crossbar are secured to the base, one 3D printed YACC is snapped into position on either side, with a Velcro strip threaded between them, and secured around the piece being secured. See below.
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Secure filament roll holder to coroplast insert with Velcro.
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Invert the unit and secure into the coroplast insert (as shown).
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Secure the x-axis gantry assembly. The x-axis gantry assembly is inserted into position from the right side and secured.
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Place power cord, tools, and hardware in the spaces in the bottom of the Pelican hard case.
Empty Pelican 1535 Air case before Creality Ender-3 3D Printer is packed.
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The 3D printer is loaded into and unloaded from the coroplast sheath outside of the Pelican case. The coroplast sheath provides excellent stability of the machine inside of the Pelican case.
Packed Creality Ender-3 3D Printer, with Coroplast
Grabbing where shown below, lift the assembly up and lower it into the Pelican hard case, making sure to seat the insert all the way to the bottom of the Pelican case.
Unit can be lifted by grabbing where shown, to place into Pelican case.
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Place sleeve and retainer onto z-axis lead screw for transportation
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Secure the left-side vertical support/z-axis assembly as shown using YACCs and Velcro.
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Place accessories box into space shown.
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Secure power supply face down with two YACCs and Velcro.
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Place control panel into space shown. Note the Velcro on the surface of the control panel coroplast retainer.
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Place coroplast stabilizing insert into position as shown, and fix a strip of Velcro across the top of the stabilizing insert and the control panel retainer. This helps keep the control panel from sliding leftward.
- Carefully close the lid of the portable 3D printer, and the process is complete.
Unpacking the Portable 3D Printer
Unpacking the printer happens in the reverse order described above in “Packing the Portable 3D Printer”
For a video example of the process, click below:
Unpacking the Portable 3D Printer - Video 1/3
Unpacking the Portable 3D Printer - Video 2/3
Unpacking the Portable 3D Printer - Video 3/3
Final Product
The final product is satisfactory, and in carrying by the handle or wearing the unit on the back, there is very little shift of the internal contents of the hard case. This speaks to the rigidity of the coroplast and how well the unit fits within the hard case. It it not very comfortable, however.
Portable 3D printer loaded into the Pelican Air 1535 hard case.
Portable 3D printer loaded into the Pelican Air 1535 hard case.
We tried other configurations for locations to place the control panel and the power supply. Each assembler of the portable 3D printer can make up their own mind for the best way to store and secure the smaller items.
Open Pelican 1535 Air case with Creality Ender-3 3D Printer inside.
Aerial view of Pelican 1535 Air case with Creality Ender-3 3D Printer inside.
As previously discussed, the printer needed to be inverted to avoid modifying the length of the H-shaped base legs. The 3D printer is loaded into and unloaded from the coroplast sheath outside of the Pelican case. The coroplast sheath provides excellent stability of the machine inside of the Pelican case. The 3D printer is suspended slightly above the bottom of the coroplast sheath, and thus above the bottom of the Pelican case. We experimented with lining the bottom with foam for further cushioning.
Packed Creality Ender-3 3D Printer, with Coroplast
The entire 3D printer can be packed down in about 10 minutes, with reassembly taking about the same amount of time.
Project Discussion
I believe we accomplished what we set out to do: find a way to put an Ender-3 3D printer inside of a hard case small enough the carry-on an airplane. We came in under-budget on materials as our understanding of the practicality of the unit evolved. As per the original proposal, we have space in the hard case for tools and supplies necessary to do 3D printing and prosthetic creation in the field. Upon further consideration, we realized meeting an arbitrary reassembly time such as “3 minutes” is unnecessary. The point of the project was to pack a 3D printer into a small protective space for air transport, perhaps across the globe. It shouldn’t matter if it takes 3 hours to reassemble once at the destination, as long as it arrives safely.
If we were to use the rest of the budget, one purchase that could be worthwhile would be a Pelican lid organizer, offering zippered pouches to neatly retain additional tools and supplies needed in the field. I don’t think it’s necessary at this time to make such a purchase as the proof-of-concept and knowledge of the existence of these lid organizers should suffice.
Portable 3D printer loaded into the Pelican Air 1535 hard case.
Utility Discussion
In principle, the portable 3D printer would seem like a good idea. I submit three hypothetical scenarios:
- Short-Term Trip
On a short-term e-NABLE trip, a volunteer or group of volunteers would realistically have a good idea of the community/communities they will be visiting and the types of amputations they may come across. It is not realistic to assume a volunteer would be dropped into a country and have no clue where they would be going, or not have any personal contacts for any communities in need. For the volume and weight of the portable 3D printer, I would say that it may make more pragmatic sense to fill the pelican case with dozens of already 3D printed parts — perhaps dozens of Phoenix Hand gauntlets and finger pieces, and enough hardware to build. In this way, many more potential recipients could be helped in parallel.
One might argue that bringing the 3D printed parts, as opposed to the 3D printer, limits the volunteer in the field. On a short-term trip I would argue the opposite. Bringing a single 3D printer means that the volunteer is limited to working in series, waiting many hours for one print to finish. As we know, that print may fail for many reasons or it may be that the size turned out to not be appropriate for the recipient. This is wasted time, especially if the intention is to help as many people as possible in the time that the volunteer is there.
Power is a significant issue as well. In my time in Africa I saw just how fragile the electrical grid is in certain communities. We would lose power for long stretches of time. Due to constant power fluctuations, the 3D printers needed to be plugged into an uninterruptable power supply (UPS). It fluctuated so much that any piece of electronics not powered through a UPS was in danger of frying with a surge. The computers at HVP-Gatagara, for example, would need to be rebooted several times an hour due to brief power cuts. All this is to say, for a portable 3D printer to be of practical use in developing communities, the volunteers would need to also bring a reasonably-sized UPS which can be almost as big and bulky as the Pelican Air 1535 hard case. This means another checked bag on the flight, and another heavy item to lug around. So, for the size and weight, why not bring two full suitcases of all sizes and colors of prosthetics we may be able to offer?
We also need to consider that for it to make sense to bring the 3D printer, we would also need to bring a laptop. Sure, we can store print jobs on an SD card and print from SD, but this limits the types of prints that can be done in the field to those we have already pre-configured. If we limit ourselves to a set number of prints anyway, why not just bring them already printed? One would be able to help many more recipients in parallel without having to wait for the part to print.
- Long-Term Trip
On a long-term volunteering trip, one in which the volunteer lives in the community for a time as I did in Tanzania and Rwanda, it makes sense to have access to the 3D printing equipment. Having access to the 3D printer allows for more personalization and iteration, a luxury afforded to the volunteer only when they have an extended period of time to do it in. In this case it makes far more sense to bring the UPS, etc.
For the current cost of these workhorse 3D printers (under $200), relative to the cost of an international trip, I say it makes more practical sense to buy a new machine and ship it as checked baggage in the box it comes in. Or, simply save the box it comes in and re-pack your desktop Ender in it before taking your trip. I say this because in this project we set out to make few if any modifications to the printer itself, to make this project accessible to any volunteer. In so doing, we did not add any hinges or other fancy hardware to the system. In reality, we found a different way to pack the system into a slightly smaller form factor, but to what end? It would be nice not to have to put the 3D printer into checked baggage, but then we’d still have to check the UPS and the third suitcase full of tools and filament. So it doesn’t really save us money or time, and ultimately does not make transport much safer for the printer in comparison to checking the original box packed with form-fitting Styrofoam.
I’ve been to nearly 30 countries and have never had to walk a significant distance (beyond where public or private transport could get me) to get to a destination. The backpack straps make perfect sense if you are going to pack the 3D printer in the Pelican Air hard case, but packing the 3D printer in the Pelican Air hard case only really makes sense if it is so difficult to get to the destination that you would actually need the form factor of the packed box to be so small you could carry it. The 3D printer in the original box it comes in is packed very well in fitted Styrofoam and would go through checked baggage without issue. I submit that if you go through the extensive planning necessary to set up a long-term volunteering mission in some location around the world where, ultimately, the 3D printer will be set up in a room and used extensively as I used printers in Tanzania and Rwanda, then the smaller transportation form factor and backpack straps are ultimately not necessary as they would only be relevant in the time it takes to travel between destination and airport. The work of Roberto Postelmans is a prime example - he ships his 3D printers ahead of his arrival, and gets right to work when he gets to his destination. And in the case of checking the box, travelling between destination and airport will happen in a vehicle that will be able to accommodate the box that the Ender-3 originally comes in (as opposed to walking or taking a motor bike) because that means of transportation will also need to be able to accommodate the large UPS, additional tools and filament, along with all of the volunteer(s) personal baggage.
- Domestic Demonstrations and Conventions
The portable 3D printer in a Pelican Air 1535 hard case could very well be an interesting novelty to bring to a demonstration at a school or a convention. This may spark the next great idea in a child or convention-goer, as all great demonstrations have the potential to do. Packing and transporting in this small form-factor, with the ability to carry-on the printer, seems especially beneficial for domestic travel with the printer. But, if the goal is simply to transport a printer across town or a few hours away in a car, the Ender-3 travels perfectly well on the floor or on a car seat. The extruded aluminum frame makes this printer rigid and robust, and going through the trouble of reproducing this design just to transport the printer a few times per year would likely not be worth the cost or effort.
Conclusions
It is natural to have pre-conceived notions about developing communities in far-off places. It is only after you travel there or speak to someone who calls that place home that you can truly appreciate what the community has to offer. Before I travelled to East Africa, I imagined we may have to use the 3D printers while plugged into a running vehicle due to lack of electricity. This was misguided, and in retrospect very silly. Communities around the world more and more have electricity, and internet, and satellite television. Yet we still must work within the confines of the systems they do have. That means using a UPS, etc.
If an e-NABLE volunteer goes somewhere so incredibly remote that there is no electricity whatsoever, they surely will not be bringing a 3D printer with them. This is simply not practical.
With that said, I set off on this project with incorrect notions about how utilitous such a portable printer would be for my particular application. I think to the lay person it makes perfect sense, but consider realistically what is necessary for a particular scenario, and you may come to the same conclusion that there are far better uses of time, money, space, weight, and energy for most practical scenarios.
Further Questions
If you plan to build a version of the portable 3D printer, feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.