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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Sweet Project Enclosures
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donmck Guru  Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
For years I have been chasing universal project boxes, and even imported metal ones for specific applications. They have been expensive, and weigh in fairly heavily, so postage is never cheap. I just came upon this RPi box from Adafruit: http://www.adafruit.com/products/859 You must watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=wyHud YAOVRY#! I have suggested this type of box to Tsvetan at Olimex, as they are already doing laser cutting of boxes, such as the DuinoMite-MEGA: http://www.dontronics-shop.com/olimex-duinomite-mega-box-onl y.html I also figured that by adding a specific box mounting kit, the boxes can be screwed to a flat surface, or stacked up on each other. If the top and bottom sections had the four external tabs extended out past the box dimensions, and a mounting hole was added, along with some plastic washers for height, then the extra top and bottom mounting panels could be sold in pairs, as a mounting kit for the specific box. Comments? Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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elproducts Senior Member  Joined: 19/06/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 282 |
If you want to talk to the guy that did this box let me know. http://www.thebackshed.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4484&KW =elproducts www.elproducts.com |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
I must admit Chuck, I remember seeing that article you posted back in december, and thinking how nice the box was then. I found the member and his home page, thanks. I think what makes the big difference is the dragon claws, which makes the nuts and bolts methods of assembly obsolete now. I got too old to buy a laser cutter and get involved in manufacturing, but I am hoping that someone like Olimex (and possibly others) can make a reasonably priced box for any and every project. I can imagine various versions in clear, smokey, black, corporate colo(u)rs etc. And with what I have seen in 3D printers, I feel they still need a bit more development before they can be up to the standard we are talking about, at a reasonable price. But I am very happy to be proven wrong. Obviously aluminum and steel cases will become a thing of the past for hobbyist use. Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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| DuinoMiteMegaAn Senior Member Joined: 17/11/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 231 |
I probably have the only DuinoMiteMega enclosure in the states. (Mouser don't carry them - Olimex won't sell them?) The only flaw is the vertical height should be increased to accommodate at least two shields. Right now, it doesn't even accommodate one shield!  |
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| elproducts Senior Member Joined: 19/06/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 282 |
You don't have to buy one. There are numerous companies that will produce what you want for a reasonable fee. For example, you can get laser or metal cutting from emachineshop.com and they give you free CAD software to download and use. Similar to the way Expresspcb made PCBs easier to produce. And tThere are many more laser cutter shops that will take your CAD files and laser it out for a great price. For 3D printing you have shapeways.com. They have several free design resources as well including Tinkercad that runs right in a browser, nothing to install. They also work with a 2D to 3D converter that takes a .jpg and makes it 3D. There is even a 3D printed case for Rasberry PI already. http://www.shapeways.com/model/565087/raspberry-pi-standard- case.html I agree 3D printers are not completely there yet and these low cost desktop CNC machines are so tempting I want to buy one to make my own project enclosures but with the cost of these services it almost doesn't make sense to buy a machine except for possibly prototyping before sending in for the final design. www.elproducts.com |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
I was once the production manager for a laser cutting business, and had to do a run of brochure stands cut from blue 3mm acrylic. The tongue and slot style of flat pack design, like this PI case. We had a big problem, after cutting out a few hundred, they wouldn't fit together! The tongue's wouldn't fit into the slots. Discovered not all sheets of acrylic are made equal, and a 3mm sheet could be anywhere between 2.5 and 3.5mm thick! After that each sheet was measured and the laser curf offset adjust to suit that sheet. Most lasers can cut 3mm acrylic as fast as they can move, depending on wattage. But for a better cut you want to slow it down a bit, say 3000mm per minute. The finish is what we called "flame polished", a clear cut edge. I miss using the laser cutters, the ultimate protyping tool. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
It really was a toss up Andy, and that is one of the reasons why we made the outboard Arduino adapter: http://www.dontronics-shop.com/olimex-duinomite-shield-board .html Re mouser, I don't know, but then I don't know why Sparkfun don't sell DuinoMite either. Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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darthmite Senior Member Joined: 20/11/2011 Location: FrancePosts: 240 |
Hi , I just see this thread and liked the cool laser cutting box i see ... But ... $15 / box is a little expansive it's why i just think about little $400/500 3D Printer who will pay itself after like 30 box you made. Another advantage is that you are not just able to build your own box but everything you need as little mechanical part for your project 
Cheers. Theory is when we know everything but nothing work ... Practice is when everything work but no one know why ;) |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
Re the laser cutting, thanks Chuck and Glenn. I admit I was fishing for info a bit, and knew others would have already gone down that path. I don't know where I am heading, but I find it fascinating, and would love to see a big range of project cases done in acrylic sheet. MaxiMite and DuinoMite would be a great spot to start. I'll read up on the URLs. Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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| donmck Guru Joined: 09/06/2011 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1313 |
Is there a $400/$500 3D printer that will do a decent box Fabrice? The videos I have seen leave me wondering why I would want to buy one, because of the poor quality final result, but please prove me wrong. If this is the standard, I would find them very hard to produce as a sellable product: http://www.eevblog.com/2012/05/08/eevblog-274-makerbot-tweak ing-first-print/ Don... https://www.dontronics.com |
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| darthmite Senior Member Joined: 20/11/2011 Location: FrancePosts: 240 |
i found this one not that bad : Solidoodle it's a 6″x6″x6″ object size , enough for most little box or other thing wee usually need in electronics / robotics ... etc ... With a 0.2 or 0.3mm resolution it's not bad. but they is allot of 3D printer's around , a list here : 3D printers If i don't have one is because i don't have found one at descent price who can made me more than 30cm in one of the direction
Strange that Olimex not build such thing , with they prices it can be interesting. Cheers. Theory is when we know everything but nothing work ... Practice is when everything work but no one know why ;) |
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vasi Guru Joined: 23/03/2007 Location: RomaniaPosts: 1697 |
The best one is Ultimaker, with amazing quality. With an Ultimaker, I will not worry anymore about cases. Hobbit name: Togo Toadfoot of Frogmorton Elvish name: Mablung Miriel Beyound Arduino Lang |
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| Gizmo Admin Group Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5078 |
The 3D printers are good for prototyping, but not cost effective for production runs, because they are painfully slow. Coming from a production background, I could see someone using a 3D printer to develope and fine tune a part, then send it along with its cad files off to a mould making business. Something like that PI box would take about 30 seconds to laser cut, but you would be charged much more than 30 seconds. Typically, you take a drawing to the laser cutting business, the more detailed the better, the CAD guys hate having to chase up measurements. There would be a charge to create the laser cutting file ( G-Code usually ) and this can take anywhere from 10 minutes to 2 hours, at $80 per hour, again depending on how much detail you provided them. Plus there is a base charge, a material charge and handling. To cut out one PI case would cost something like $50, assuming the CAD work was previously done, paid for, and kept on file. Your really just paying for the setup, as actual material cost and laser time is virtually nothing. But if you ordered 50 PI cases, then you would save big time. If each PI case took 30 seconds, then 50 PI cases would take about 30 minutes ( a bit less, but lets use nice round figures ). A typical laser would be charged out at say $200 per hour for this sort of light work, so thats $100 on the machine, plus the initial $50 fee. $150 total ( ignoring material costs ), works out at $3 per PI case. Order 100, and its cheaper again. Laser time can be charged anywhere between $200 and $400 per hour. Cutting acrylic, timber, etc is easy, uses compressed air to blow out the cut, and needs less than 1000 watts, so its cheaper. Cutting steel uses around 2500 watts and oxygen for the cut, more expensive. Cutting stainless or aluminium is very expensive, uses 5000 watts ( on the big machines ) and nitrogen gas. Lots of it, I once emptied a 6 pack of nitrogen bottles in 15 minutes cutting 20mm stainless. The laser cutter is usually a CO2 laser, and these are 10% efficient, so to run at 5kW, we draw over 50kW of 3 phase mains power! The running costs are high, lots of consumables and expensive bits. A typical new industrial laser cutter goes for $200,000 to $1,000,000, depending on brand and configuration. But you ca pick up a 2nd hand one, not working or in very poor condition, for $20,000 or more. Companies usually dont like to sell them, they can be repaired and there are some machines out there over 30 years old. Fun stuff. Once we used a 5kW laser to melt a 30mm hole through a house brick. 
Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| elproducts Senior Member Joined: 19/06/2011 Location: United StatesPosts: 282 |
You are right, there are a lot of choices and Solidoodle looks good. I've considered getting a 3D printer AND desktop CNC machine for my home lab to create prototype enclosures for my electronic projects. I currently outsource my board manufacture so that's why I have been looking at the same options for 3D and CNC. If I decide to get this equipment for my lab, I've determined I have to keep my budget at $1000 or less for both. I also would prefer to get a fully assembled unit preferably in a nice enclosure. I really don't have the time , skill or patience to put together such a large puzzle. I also want the enclosure to keep the noise down and the mess contained. That gives me $500 each. The SUMPOD claims it can do 3D printing and light CNC machining though I don't see a lot of detail on their website explaining this but it might be able to do both within my price range. There just isn't enough detail on their website. If I make these separate machines, The best choice I've found are the Solidoodle for 3D (expert model assembled in case is $599 plus shipping). Software is free and multiple choices. I've started learning google sketchup but TinkerCad is pretty easy as well. I'm close here. Zenbotcnc.com is my first choice for CNC which is $499 assembled but I need to add electronics, router, CNC software. No case is available. I bought the CNC electronics on EBAY from China for $40. I have a router. CNC software is free but limited. The first project might be to build a case for it. Can't quite get under my $1000 target but having fun trying. I haven't produced a 3D design yet, though I've made several practice designs in Tinkercad and Google Sketchup. I have used a few CNC/laser services such as pololu.com (great laser work at good price) and Bigbluesaw.com (cnc terrible results, not recommended). Because of these outsource options, I'm not in a major rush but it would be nice to eventually have the ability to create projects at home. www.elproducts.com |
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