How to build your own UV Cure box

In anticipation of getting a 3D Printer I decided to build my own UV Curing chamber. There are commercial options available, but these cost 200€ for the cheapest option, and 1200€ for more high-end options of a washing and a curing station. That’s a lot of money if you’re currently unemployed, and besides: I like building!

For this project you need a cardboard box - a shoe box works fine, as do boxes with a suggested minimum size of 40 x 30 x 20 cm (that’s the Size of my Box, which I flipped to the side). I bought reflective, self-adhesive mirror foil (a roll of 44,5 x 200 cm which was enough), a UV LED strip and a small, solar-powered spinning table.

If you want to do it on an ultimate budget, you could use tinfoil which you have in the kitchen, and skip the spinning table, and thus only need to get the UV LEDs. The cheapest I found them for was ~17€, and these are definitely essential unless you decide to not get a curing box at all and just cure your 3D Prints in the sun (which is totally possible if you live in a sunny region).

After you have identified the Box you wanna use for your curing station, it’s time to take some scissors, tape and get to work! I measured and cut the reflective foil to size, with a small overlap, and then applied it to the inside of the Box. The hardest part was to get the transparent backer of the foil - Pro-Tip: Don’t cut your finger nails before this project! Take your time, work cleanly, and press the reflective foil well to the box. If you feel that it’s not adhesive enough, use some tape to keep it in place.

Once the complete inside of the Box is covered in reflective foil, you are almost done! This was the most time-intensive part, and now only the UV LEDs need to be attached. I bought these DeepDream UV LEDs as the lamps, they come with an adhesive back so are super-easy to apply. In hindsight I should have also bought some connectors. As I forgot to do so I simply made small curves and applied the light strip that way - and saved another 10€! It doesn’t look as clean as with connectors, but it works fine. I made seven rows of LEDs, and this covers around 3/4 of the Box. This ensures I can access the Box easily from the top quarter, and I have an even UV light distribution.

Finally, I purchased a solar-powered spinning table, which works perfectly inside the box to turn the prints around and give each side of the printed object a healthy, curing dose of UV Light! The UV light from the LEDs powers the spinning table, and as the plate is transparent the UV lights also reaches the bottom of the items on the table.

Voilá! The finished Curing Box is ready! I made some tests and it works very well, it is easy to put things on the spinning table, and some 10 to 20 Minutes of curing later the 3D Prints are ready for working with!