To make my printer fit in the case, I needed to divide the upper and lower sections of the case. On the upper level, the printer needed to have the entire breadth of the case to fit inside, meaning the internal frame needed to be removed. For printing exotic materials (or even ABS), the printer area needs to be kept very warm. However, the electronics in the control box must stay cool at all times, so I needed a way to isolate the upper and lower levels. In addition, the shelf that the printer sits on needs to be genuinely fireproof, as it would be the first to receive dripping plastic in the event of a fire.
To satisfy these requirements, I used fiber cement backer-board that I cut into shape to seal the edges of the enclosure. Because the doors of the enclosure have about 3″ of depth, I extended floor sections into the doors. I used 1/4″ aluminum trim channel (Lowes) and rubber weatherstripping to create a seal between the doors and the printer shelf. HardieBacker is difficult to work with, but it’s cheap and reasonably lightweight. I cut it down to size with determination and a utility knife.