A lot of these 3D printer projects were done as a part of UBC Enginnering Design Team: UBC Rapids, of which I am an executive member of. Our team runs a 3D printing service for students at the university and also experiments with new printers, filaments, and printing techniques. I have been working on general repair of printers, and making a multi-material Prusa printer.
One of the bigger things I have done with UBC Rapids is make this MMU Prusa Printer. The main challenge in this project was troubleshooting broken components. This printer was built mostly from spare parts lying around, new 3D printed parts, and a broken Prusa Printer. Since had no way of knowing if each part was in working order there were many stages where we had to troubleshoot the printer and figure out what the broken part was. The biggest issue was the power supply and circuit board that were faulty. Figuring out whether they could be repaired or we had to buy a new one meant lots of testing and working sequentially through the parts to see where the actual problem was.
During the Covid-19 quarantine I did not have access to the 3D printing workshop anymore, and since I was starting to get bored I splurged and bought myself a new 3D printer. I chose the Ender 5 because of the price, popularity, and ability to add lots of custom modifications. Building this printer wasn't hard at all but adding modifications are going to be the fun challenge I have. I was a bit perplexed as to why my prints were all printing mirrored, unitl I realized I plugged the X and Y motors in reversed....
My Ender 5 Printer
Ender 5 Tool Clip
Ender 5 Tool Clip
My first modification isn't the most complex, but I find it incredibly useful. I was inspired by some other tool clips that I found on Thingiverse but none of them held all of the tools that I wanted, so I customized my own. I wanted to the clip to be able to hold my spatula, microSD to USB adaptor, tweezers, and snips. I also didn't want it to be too large. Click the Thingiverse logo below to see the uploaded final version.