This Man Uses a Server Cabinet to House His 3D Printer & It’s Awesome

Aric Cudnohosky is the majordomo at aquaticslive.com, and he’s also a 3D printing enthusiast and maker.

Cudnohosky is a database administrator for the Iowa League of Cities in Des Moines. He previously worked on US Postal Service contracts for mailing and billing companies around the US, and in that role he worked on a variety of projects related to SQL databases for billing and tracking mail. A US Air Force veteran, Cudnohosky served on a small Helicopter Unit where he maintained electronics and avionics systems and computer systems for remote, forward-based locations. When he has some free time, Cudnohosky spends time with his child and enjoys the outdoors and boating.

He’s also no stranger to 3D printing technology, so he recently decided a server cabinet would be an ideal starting point for his next 3D printer build, a BLACKBOX Data Cabinet which he says will help prevent his “pets from trying to help by pawing at the printhead during prints.”

He says he used the existing rail mount holes to bolt parts in and that allowed the project to be completely modular.

“Using the standard rack mount holes also makes the project compatible with a wide variety of cabinets,” Cudnohosky says. “I have to admit my first try at this, I made a mistake and forgot the slide bearings, so had to pull them out and put the bearings on and reassemble. I made the mounts symmetrical so I can have a spare that will work in any of the four positions.”

The printer is driven by a RAMPS control board, and he included a 40mm Noctua fan to keep the print heads cool. He later installed additional plugs to accommodate the E3D hot ends of his printer and make them easier to replace should they fail.

The power cabinet was built in an old PC case on the bottom attached to the bottom of the server rack.

All in all, a pretty cool job of re-purposing some old hardware, and Cudnohosky says he’s working on a Raspberry Pi project for his webcam server and to control the printer remotely.

You can check out a detailed build progress post on his website and while you’re there, you can find links to his podcast as well.

Can you see yourself building your own 3D printer inside a protective server cabinet? Have you ever done this kind of mod to a 3D printer? Let us know in the Server Cabinet Used to House a 3D Printer forum thread on 3DPB.com.