Enclosed Portable 3D Printer
Engineering Grade, Battery Powered, Self Contained Filament, Fits in your Bag
Built by Ethan Gao
V1 is a portable, battery-powered FDM 3D printer with a scissor-lift Z axis that folds the machine down to roughly 300×300×80mm and expands to a 180×200×175mm print volume. XY motion uses a CoreXY-style cable drive with thin Dyneema rope and U-groove pulleys rather than GT2 belts for compactness. The bed is unheated to keep battery draw low. Structure is completely 3D-printable on consumer-grade printers. Built earlier this year, 600k+ Instagram views across the design and build process. V1 surfaced three problems for V2 to fix: stability at the scissor pivots, an internal battery cavity that wastes volume better used for filament, and no enclosure, a limitation shared with existing portables like the Positron. V2 keeps the scissor-lift architecture and changes one major element. The power source moves entirely external to Makita and Milwaukee battery packs via an adapter interface mounted to the outside of the chassis. The internal battery cavity is removed. V2 also adds four completely new systems. Integrated internal filament storage occupies the cavity vacated by the V1 battery, which removes the need for storing filament seperately and destroying volume efficiency. Dual Z Screws add further rigidity. A folding bellows curtain can fully enclose the print volume during operation. A 90-degree hotend routes filament horizontally into the heat zone and out the bottom, further reducing footprint. A take-out-and-print workflow leaves the printer fully assembled inside the case.