Hotend Showcase - a neat display for your spare hotend. Designed with care to make your hotend stand out.

One of the first things that amazed me when I received my P1S was the stunning appearance of the spare hotend that came with it. I immediately realized the level of detail and care put into its design, assuring me that I had acquired a top-tier 3D printer without a doubt.

While there are numerous cases and boxes available for hotends, I was looking for something that would truly make it stand out and not serve as storage unit only, similar to the iconic Iron Man Arc Reactor. This is the result, and I absolutely love it!

I'm not a professional designer and I know this can be optimized for just top and base parts, but I wanted it to be more versatile and have more space for feature updates, e.g. the base part currently has space for 18650 battery case.

Printing:

The model contains the following print parts:

• Base
• Led Shell
• Top Cover
• Wemos bracket

Everything is already set up in the print profile, no need for supports!

For the top cover, there are two printing options available:

1. Full multicolor printing - black, green, blue, and white or whatever color you like to use.
2. Black and white - the white serves as a diffuser for the LED setup.

Note: If full multicolor is chosen, there is no need to print the LED shell and the Wemos bracket. The base and top cover will be sufficient.

If you decide not using the print profile, make sure to set wall generator to 'Arachne', ironing on top surfaces and slow down on the first layer of the top cover, to get better text results.

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Assembly Instructions

Materials needed:

• M3x8mm countersunk head tapping screw
• Spare hotend or buy new

Additional materials for LED setup:

• M3x8mm countersunk head tapping screw
• Wemos mini D1
• 5V WS2812B addressable LED strip
• Jumper wires

LED setup assembly instruction:

This isn't a comprehensive guide on utilizing the Wemos mini to illuminate the LED strip, numerous tutorials are available online for reference. I recommend using the straightforward WLED project, which allows you to flash your device from the web and offers a wide range of setup possibilities.

Base:

Place the Wemos mini in its designated location on the base and secure it with the bracket using 2 screws. If there is any gap between the Wemos and the bracket, you can insert a small pad for additional support. Horizontal movement to the left is not a concern, once the top cover is installed, it will be blocked.

I recommend to connect 3 wires to the Wemos (GND, 5V, and D2 in my setup) for the LED strip beforehand, to facilitate the installation process.

LED Shell:

Place the LED shell on top of the base and secure it with 3 screws.

Transfer the three wires from the Wemos Mini through one of the holes of the LED shell. This will serve as the starting point of your LED strip. Consider your LED strip setup at this point to ensure proper alignment and connectivity.

Cut the required number of LEDs for your setup and place them inside the LED shell in both compartments. Ensure that the direction arrow on the LEDs is correctly positioned from the starting point (Wemos wires) to the last LED in the setup.

Prepare the entire LEDs setup and soldering outside before sticking the LEDs inside the LED shell, following the same approach as with the Wemos wires. Only solder the wires that go from one compartment to another after all LEDs are in place. Use additional glue to secure the LEDs as the adhesive that come with it sometimes isn't enough.

At this stage, I suggest connecting to the Wemos and testing your code to ensure everything is functioning as intended before installing the top cover.

Top Cover:

Finally, once everything is confirmed to be working, place the top cover and secure it with four side screws. Insert the hotend into its place, push it down so the two holes at the bottom of the hothend will snap into the two bumps on the base. Those bumps ensure that the hotend will not accidentally fall out and allow easy remove of the hotend when needed.