Viki LCD v1.0 Makergear M2 Case

Prints (0)

Description

SummaryWhile the Viki LCD v1.0 has been replaced with v2.0 they are still pretty useful and available on eBay. Some have suggested that they are a great bargain for folks wanting to add direct controls to your printer. So after putting this off for about a half year I got around to building a case for my MakerGear M2's Viki LCD. The mounts and dimensions are based on my MakerGear M2, which was made in 2013. I know MakerGear has been continually revising their printer since so I'm not sure if there have been significant changes in the position of mounts. But I made sure that the mounts line up perfectly with my printer. The general design was inspired by whoDat's Viki enclosure (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:113083) and I've incorporated enough design elements to consider this a remix of that design but the overall dimensions, position of mounts, size of the case, and position and size of opening in general are quite different. I kept the rib design elements on the lid, which when I assembled my design, it became obvious the ribs were intended as lid reinforcements. I undermined this a bit by taking the opportunity to enhance ventilation by making openings in these design elements. Despite this, the lid remains pretty rigid and lets light from the RAMBo board through, which some might consider a nice benefit. The case is designed to mount the Viki using M3 bolts and nuts. There are pockets for nuts to make assembly easy. The bolts and nuts used to mount the original RAMBo board case to the M2 can be used to mount this case. I shrank the RAMBo portion of the case a bit (relative to the M2 case) and made three basic designs where the Viki enclosure is either aligned with the left, center or right of the RAMBo portion of the case. I've posted all three of these. There are two variations on the Viki portion of the case. The extended version is a fully enclosed case. I often have wires and other conductors on my desk that can wriggle up into bare electronics and cause havoc so I felt it was a good idea to encase all of this. But for those willing to take the risk of having something shorting Viki circuitry, the flat bottom version is the one to print. The primary benefit of the flat bottom version is that needs a lot less (about 40%) less filament to print (significantly lower need for support). Of the design options, I printed the centered, extended case for my own printer, which is a nice balance of solutions to design challenges. I've posted photos of how this version fits into the M2, including how it fits under the build platform when its completely lowered.Print SettingsPrinter Brand: MakerGearPrinter: M2Rafts: Doesn't MatterSupports: YesResolution: 0.4 mm nozzleInfill: 30 - 60%Notes: Caveats to note: This is a very big object. It takes a lot of plastic (~1/3 - 1/4 of a 1kg roll) and many hours to print (15 - 25 hours - depending on your settings). So if your printer isn't stable and capable of long prints this might be a frustrating build for you. I don't recommend this object for novice / beginner users of their printer. While I did my best to minimize complex design elements that might cause jams, it is a long print requiring a lot of support plastic so will test the endurance of your printer. While it doesn't matter if you use a raft or not, the case is much easier to remove from the build plate if you use a raft. I suggest that this be printed with PLA vs ABS. The size of the box is big enough that ABS shrinkage can be pretty significant and make fitting to the M2 difficult. Once printed you need to snap off small ring supports in the M3 bolt sockets under the RAMBo portion of the case. The position of the bolt holes for the RAMBo board are based on published design specs. I find them to be a tiny bit off for my board (~0.5-1mm). If yours is off, this can be easily remedied by shaving a bit of plastic away with an X-acto knife. I made the lower M3 bolt sockets a bit larger than usual so should accommodate this modification.Post-PrintingViki Documentation InquiryWhile most of the Viki's operations are straight forward, I think I could make the most of the Viki, if there was a bit more instruction on its use. If there is such a document, please post it or a link to it. Thanks in advance!

Design Files

File Size

M2_Viki_Case_Lid.stl
577 KB
M2_Viki_Case_R_Flush_-_Extended.stl
538 KB
M2_Viki_Case_R_Flush_-_Flat_Bottom.stl
536 KB
M2_Viki_Case_Centered_-_Extended.stl
539 KB
M2_Viki_Case_L_Flush_-_Flat_Bottom.stl
537 KB
M2_Viki_Case_L_Flush_-_Extended.stl
539 KB
M2_Viki_Case_Centered_-_Flat_Bottom.stl
537 KB

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