High temp 3DP in a toaster oven?
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Toaster ovens are very common and can reach high temperatures.
Maybe one could build a motion system external to the toaster interior for x-y movement (e.g. corexy) and have a bed that can raise and lower within the toaster.
I guess you'd need to cut out the top (or bottom) of the toaster for access. Some ovens already have a hinged panel for cleaning.
For XY, you'd probably need a high-temp bellows (à la Stratasys machine) to prevent convective losses.
The heating elements could be controlled by relays, and some ovens have a fan for air distribution.
Crazy idea?
...or crazy enough to work ? ;^)
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This is the company that makes the bellows used on the 900mc's http://www.centryco.com/. Silicone impregnated fiberglass cloth sewn in to a hexagonal cross section with kevlar thread. They are pricey. Custom made to fit but work real well. I got my hands on an industrial sewing machine and the material. Looks to be doable so far.
I think the toaster oven could be made to work with a little thought. There is already some structure to work off of. The top element would have to be moved to the bottom (get a convection version with a fan). The bellows are quite bulky measuring about 45mm tall when closed. Rigid, fiberglass insulation board could be used instead, just let it extend off the front, back and sides. There'll be some leaking and the warm insulation panels exposed but you're going to have losses no matter what -
@3dpmicro Thanks for the info. I had wondered about those bellows for a long time, but never found a company willing to sew them with the hexagonal shape you described (they were always simpler, flat bellows).
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@hebigt See this thread https://forum.duet3d.com/topic/17554/high-temperature-printing particularly this post: https://forum.duet3d.com/post/166699
Which leads to https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/fdy6n7/i_designed_machined_and_assembled_a_huge_custom/Ian
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It might be less work to build an insulated frame with a decent chamber heater that try and retrofit a printer inside a toaster over. they may prove to be a cheap source of heating elements for the chamber heater though.
