2-Piece DVD Drive Case using Hitachi Simpledrive Board

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In the previous episode...

Using the innards of my redundant Hitachi Simpledrive USB HDD, I previously created a TPU case to hold the PCB and the optical drive from my old PC - thing 6172462.

But it all went horribly wrong (dah dah DAHHH!). The idea itself was fine. But, because my Ender 3 was no longer working well after 5 years of hard use, I was forced to print it in three separate parts. The joints between the pieces just looked horrid. So I printed a thin cosmetic sleeve to mask the joins. But the printer wasn't up to that either. So it still came out looking awful too. Arrrgh!

I could have spent some time stripping down the Ender, replacing all the worn parts, and dialling everything back in. But I decided it was too much effort, and I chose to treat myself to a Bambu X1-C instead...

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This new drive case is a 2-piece design. I moved the top rear vents onto the lid to boost airflow, and added some front ventilation slots after finding this area gets quite warm during use.

According to my old Cura slicer, the lower part would have taken 14 hours and 30 minutes to print on my old Ender 3. The top part would then have been another 14 hours on top of that.

Now, I don't like to brag (well maybe just a bit), but the Bambu printed the bottom unit in 2 hours and 40 minutes, and the top part in just 2 hours and 12 minutes - and that was at a high quality setting! Smug mode fully engaged.

It printed perfectly (as you would expect from a new printer). But, when I went to fit the top part of the case, I found I'd (somehow) managed to get the upper screw holes 1.5 mm too high. I've no idea how!

Long story short: I just filed the holes slightly to save me reprinting it. It means my screws are off-centre but, don't worry: I made sure to correct the STL before uploading, so you won't have that issue when you print. Considerate geezer, ain't I?

Other than that, it fitted together perfectly. My only niggle is there's fractionally too much play in the clearance of the top piece because I designed it for my old Ender 3. The dimensional accuracy on that old beast wasn't brilliant, so I needed more tolerance between parts than my new printer does.

I also elected to use brims on both pieces to avoid any risk of lifting at the corners.

In theory it SHOULD all print OK without support. But it may result in slight sagging on the various bridges and overhangs, and these would need to be cleaned-up with a file. So I used tree support and avoided any chance of this happening.

As a final finishing touch, I added some felt pads that I had lying around. They aren't particularly needed, but my wood desk has a soft wax finish that shows marks easily. They actually buff out straight away with a soft cloth, but ain't nobody got time to be messing about doing that shizzle!

As usual, I've included my SketchUp files for those who wish to tinker.

Thus ends the final chapter of this cold case!

Catch ya later, and happy printing!

Category: Computer