Optimizing Wall Mounted Electrical Enclosures | Design for Mass Production 3D Printing

In this video, we explore effective strategies for optimizing wall-mounted electrical enclosures to be more manufacturable. Whether you're a DIY enthusiast or an industrial designer, understanding how to design and print electrical enclosures efficiently can save time, effort, and material.
Join us as we share valuable insights, tips, and tricks that will help you enhance the manufacturability of your wall-mounted electrical enclosures using engineering techniques. From design considerations to material selection, we cover various aspects to ensure successful prints and robust enclosure functionality.
Don't forget to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to Slant 3D for more design tutorials and mass production 3D printing content!
00:00 Intro
00:30 Molded Electrical Enclosure Design
01:05 Problems with Printing the Molded Design
01:50 Optimizations to the Molded Design
02:43 Full Redesign for 3D Printing
04:51 Adding a Special Touch
05:44 Applying Textures
06:40 Final Thoughts
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🏭 High-Volume 3D Printing: Scalability Meets Flexibility
Slant 3D's Large-Scale 3D Print Farms utilize 1000's of FDM 3D printers working 24/7 to offer limitless scalability and unparalleled flexibility. Whether it's 100 or 100,000 parts, our system can handle it reliably, while still allowing for real-time design updates, ensuring products evolve with the times. This adaptability is key in today's fast-paced world.
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[@makebreakrepeat]

Don't forget the value in having a part that you *can* change down the line without retooling. The flexibility that 3d printing brings is, to my mind, it's greatest strength.

[@slant3d]

Huge advantage in mass production. Not literally setting your product in stone while in production.

[@chadwickwood9843]

That's true but did you see the cura print time estimate? 8 hours.

[@cybyrd9615]

@@chadwickwood9843 I can change that to 2 hr probably, but that is complicated

[@librasd8087]

I think that a good product don't need to be changed, if there is such a need then you are selling a prototipe.

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

​@@chadwickwood9843 common Cura L (also the fault of fuzzy skin, which adds a whole bunch of time in an attempt to hide the layer lines, which I honestly don't know why people have such a problem with..)

[@robertasumendi]

Your videos are condensing everything I've learned from trial and error of making functional 3dp parts over the last 7 years, awesome stuff.

[@slant3d]

Gald you are enjoying them

[@qwertyzxaszc6323]

wow, we had just printed a whole bunch of these wall-mounted enclosures for a different application and were glad to see we had designed it EXACTLY like the recommended. design holes and all.

[@xdeathknight72x]

This is a great video and example of Molding vs Printing as far as what NEEDS to change and what CAN change.

[@slant3d]

The production process should defintely drive the design

[@robertgraham6481]

You've done a great job with your thumbnails recently, and I'm loving your series of videos on designing specifically for 3D printing. I expect the algorithm to start taking more notice soon.

[@slant3d]

Thanks a ton!

[@Pickpac]

Great video, as an old engineer I love to see the solutions to problems. Your videos are also direct and entertaining.

[@slant3d]

Glad you like them!

[@tazanteflight8670]

A good way to hide layer lines is to use filament with speckles like prusia galaxy, or filament with carbon fiber.

[@slant3d]

Also a good solution if available

[@Cybertruck_69]

You are one experienced brilliant dude. Thanks. Learned so much from watching your videos.

[@DeanBateman]

Interested in understanding how many of these parts can be produced in, say, 8 hours vs. injection molding? What quantities would you typically make of these. As the reason for injection molding is scale and strength. The redesign of the part made absolute sense rather than producing a part made for another process. Use the benefits of the technology you are using

[@slant3d]

Our megafarm could be expanded up to 5000 machines

[@DeanBateman]

@@slant3d right ok, that's pretty impressive 👏 I can see how you could somewhat compete.

[@chrisdixon5241]

I love this trick for hiding layer lines with a texture

[@nelsonagryosgs5497]

This is what I realy love with your channel: how to design FOR 3D printing

[@slant3d]

Happy to hear that!

[@ChrisHarmon1]

When I first saw what carbon fiber filament looked like with random texture added to the layer lines I immediately thought "there needs to be an option to add random noise to every line" and sure enough Cura added it. Still feel like there is room for improvement in FDM printings finish maybe through a combination of filament composition changes and software tweaks. Another awesome example of filament improving surface finish is foaming PLA and TPU. Foaming TPU printing in super thin layers feels a lot like cloth. Goes to show there are major improvements still to come just by changing the spool or bottle of resin you're using.

[@bett0diaz]

Great video! I loved how the product was improvised, from a challenge to a win! Awesome! Greetings from Netherlands!

[@slant3d]

Engineering!

[@woodywiest]

Love this kind of vid. Thanks for the content

[@slant3d]

Glad you enjoyed

[@FilmFactry]

great info! How did you apply the noise? Was that fuzzy surface? Thanks!

[@drkzilla]

Love this series

[@slant3d]

Thanks

[@jackcoats4146]

Great suggestions.

[@slant3d]

Thanks for watching

[@christianbureau6732]

Brilliant

[@Bravolvi]

Do you use support on slots? As they are horizontal we cannot forget them. I usually add some chamfer in these cases to avoid or minimize support need.

[@RussianSmacker]

is this point about making things whole as opposed to cut-outs designed for molds apply for resin-printing as well?

[@Art_Of_Sound]

Really enjoying your straight to the point content...brilliant! So how did the costs work out for the client ie overall order/item cost etc (or pm me if its sensitive) ? Im in Sydney and have been printing for many years but mainly large custom stuff...would be nice to have the machines cranking away, earning their keep :-)

[@polycrystallinecandy]

How did you print the floating holes? With support?

[@elleryfg7853]

How do you implement the auto ejection feature? Was that developed by you guys?

[@rhymecypha]

Id love to see your process for quoting customers. Do you charge for your CAD time upfront and how do you charge for the prototype?

[@berkhanb]

Doesn't new design need supports at the screw slots? How do you print on mid air?

[@robertlackey7212]

What about polypropylene/glass fiber ? I can think of some places it would seem a perfect material and I have seen the filament for sale but never seen it tested or reviewed.

[@jonogunn]

With the spines being horizontal instead of vertical did you need support or did they print outwards without it?

[@TheWuzyy]

Do these electrical enclosures need to be fire retardant? What material did you use?

[@b1tw0nder]

Why aren't yo using prusa slicer? I find it to have more features than cura as well as the preexisting ones.

[@mostwantedmes]

I like the logo part, wicht program you used to do that ?

[@kevinoclips6148]

Is there a way an easy way to exclude the inner walls from the texture on these thin walled parts? For example if you needed a precise fit? I see the blockers in Cura but it would be tedious to put them just along the inside wall. Thanks

[@slant3d]

Generally textures are best applied in CAD. But the noise is a very simple thing to do in an uncontrolled way in a slicer

[@randomviewer896]

You can use any model you want as a blocker in Cura, just like with the default blocker cubes. You just select your blocker model and change it to "per model settings". What I would recommend in your situation is to CAD something that overlaps all the area you want to apply the texture but avoids everywhere else, then I'd import both parts into Cura and play with the per model settings until I got the result I wanted.

[@kevinoclips6148]

@@randomviewer896 I didn't realize you could use any model as a blocker cube, so in that case I could just offset the inside surfaces and thicken it just within the wall thickness. Thanks!

[@atomicsmith]

Great video! Did you use supports on the horizontal slots or did you have another way to solve that? I understood you were trying to avoid supports on this part…

[@slant3d]

There ate 4 small designed supports to hold the outer lips. They require minimal processing to remove. Or can even stay on the part and be knocked out at install

[@atomicsmith]

@@slant3d ok, thanks for the reply.

[@BikiniDuckCreations]

Did the screw holes need supports in the new design?

[@slant3d]

A small amount

[@davidimmel6914]

Do you have a tutorial on adding texture that you'd recommend? I'd like to add noise like that to some of my prints.

[@thaifightur]

Your slicer will have this option, it’s often called fuzzy skin, maybe hidden as an add on

[@slant3d]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/oHrEn4qeq9iKg8U&ab_channel=Slant3D

[@marshallb5210]

i always like upgraded holes

[@user-lm6ki6td9x]

looking at the design changes I was curious if maybe a better solution to the issue of the screw hole placement would be to print it on the print bed as it would be mounted to the wall (ie as you suggested might be a bad idea because of support material and auto ejection) but with an aggressive chamfer instead of a fillet as that would not require support material for the screw holes, though idk if it still wouldn't work well with auto ejection

[@slant3d]

Client needs drive the design.

[@MrRitzyVlogs]

Was the surface texture the Fuzzy skin feature or something else?

[@Madin5]

In Cura there is setting for that

[@MrRitzyVlogs]

@@Madin5 I know there is a setting for fuzzy skin. The question is what he used to add random noise.

[@danielmiguel3965]

Brazil. 🎉

[@slant3d]

Thanks for stopping by

[@Keveira]

Why fillet the bottom and not chamfer? With a 1mm fillet, and 0.2mm first layer and print layer, the 2nd layer will be floating in mid air and cause this one ugly line, from experience. A chamfer will be clean. You won't have to rely on layer height to get a clean filleted bottom. And you won't have to rely on a variable elephant's foot to compensate for the fillet's overhang.

[@H34...]

Lower layer heights, not higher ones, actually help with overhangs. Lower layer height means the next layer is less far out for a given overhang angle. The combination of extrusion width and layer height determine the overlap between the extrusion lines for a given overhang angle. Wide extrusions and thin layers means more overlap and better overhangs.

[@Keveira]

@@H34... Thanks, I've now edited the initial comment to clarify and fortify the argument.

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

Your thumbnail looks like Reese's colors... I wonder how difficult it would be to print one of those 🤔

[@jacobgoodman2558]

'Promosm'

[@Theexplorographer]

Printing vertically completely compromises the structural integrity of this print. For a better finish and better strength this should have been printed laying down. No support would be needed if your printers were set up correctly for bridging. Not sure who made these decisions but they were wrong. Sure the redesign is nice but orientation for strength and a better finish overall should be priority 1 here. I manufacture 3D printed brackets and have for many years now. Brackets that are much more complex than this. The philosophy of disregarding print orientation here is wrong. As far as UV degradation goes you are also wrong. In that orientation UV will crack and split that part in a year. The only way to get around this is to coat the product after printing. I have massive experience here as well with printing outdoor EV charger brackets. Whole lot of BS here. I really feel sorry for the client on this one. While I agree that 3D printing is the way to go here, your philosophy is pure garbage justification.

[@Theexplorographer]

@@evropapagan5551 Who are you?

[@edumaker-alexgibson]

Hi, I run a 3D print farm and have several years of experience optimising designs for FDM. Like you, I've spotted some aspects of this video which are not my idea of optimal. However, he has highlighted some problems with the original design which he has resolved, and made a video to share this with others, succinctly and clearly explaining his process. And I was able to take away a few useful pieces of information from it. Let's remember this is also not the final product, but a genericised example piece - and we don't know all of the customer's fixed ideas. Any assertion about strength in orientation would be subject to knowledge we don't have about the mode of use - it may be that a design is 'good enough' overall, and more resistant to a peak stress it encounters when abused in a predictable way. 3D printing has built around a community spirit of sharing and openness, and the idea that a rising tide floats all benchies. Companies that to some extent compete also share best practice. BS and garbage are very strong terms to use to another professional in the market, require strong evidence to justify. I would also be curious to know more about your brackets and process - but only in positive terms. What can we learn from your experience that contrasts with this video, and how do you go about defining and solving the same set of problems?

[@dhruvilshah30]

Cool but I was denied because my sample print volume was low. 🥲