Make a custom plastic case

Question

I have worked on many electronic DIY projects like MIDIbox (http://www.ucapps.de/), it always was fun and working but at the end, the problem was that I ended with a cool gear, but in a poor casing, for example : wood very roughly cut (by myself!).

What are the best solutions in 2014 in order to make a custom plastic case, with labelling, some round and square holes ?

Example :

Is 3D-printing adapted for this purpose ? Are there other solutions ?

As the desired quantity = 1 unit, are there some companies that propose such a service ?

Answer 1

If you're only making one it's entirely reasonable to just order a plastic project enclosure (all sizes are available) and then drill and cut holes yourself.

The issue it seems you're trying to overcome is a lack of craftsmanship, you can help alleviate that problem by purchasing the correct tools for the job. The other keys are practice and patience. Literally measure twice, cut once.

For instance you can buy some corner punches for cutting out nice square holes. These ones, for about $30, will fit in to a small drill press (just for the press portion), which you can get for about $130. For drilling precision I use a cross-slide vice mounted to my drill press. This improves the linearity of the holes I drill significantly.

So, get yourself some of the right tools and the quality of the project cases you build will be much better. You'll also only pay ~$10 for a case rather than a couple hundred for a one-off.

Labeling can be easily achieved by printing a large stick on label (or paper, like this guy image below) that you can cut holes in using the case you've already made.

You can also order some custom stickers with common symbols/markings. Or simply order the case with labels/markings printed directly on to it.

3D printing is a good option too, but is also a lot of design work for a single case.

Take your time, you'll end up making some very quality enclosures that you can be proud of for years to come.

Answer 2

I have used Front Panel Express for custom aluminum panels and boxes. I think they also do some work with plastics. See http://www.frontpanelexpress.com/ There is also an affiliated German company: http://www.schaeffer-ag.de/en/

Answer 3

It's no problem getting a 3D printed part made. There are plenty of service bureaus from crazy expensive to quite cheap. Sometimes even the public library or your local hackerspace. The physical characteristics of the printed material and the quality of the printing vary greatly, and often there's a lot of work done post-printing to make it look more like an injection molded part (smoothing, filling, painting). You pay for some combination of cubic cm of material and cubic cm of work envelope or time on the machine (often mostly the volume of material used). One company with lots of information available online is Quickparts.

Designing the part can be done easily if you're familiar with any 3D parametric modelling software. It's way easier than design for injection molding because you can ignore many of the guidelines that are necessary to get a high end part (it is not going to look that great anyway, and many of the rules are related to filling and heat transfer so they don't apply to 3D printing).

You can modify existing 3D models (add holes, etc.). I use a popular professional program (Solidworks) which would be considered not high end by many compared to Pro Engineer or Catia, but it's still out of the range of most hobbyists and some small businesses. Perhaps something like Sketchup could be used (some version of that is or was free). There are probably others. You'll want to produce a .stl file for printing.

You can also consider laser cutting something like acrylic, which again is pretty easy to arrange, but places significant design limitations on your housing, since it's basically 2D, so a .dxf file can be used to describe the cuts.

Printing markings can be done by screen printing (which tends to be a bit messy) or (onto metal) toner transfer methods used for PCB printing.

Electrical specifications and fire retardancy may not be guaranteed, so care should be taken if those are requirements.

For metal cases, where cost is not too important, Protocase does some nice work, highly professional work including color printing of panels (.AI format files are suitable for the artwork where fonts and colors and precision positioning is important). You could certainly put one of their beautifully cut and printed metal panels into an off-the-shelf plastic housing to get a very professional result at a reasonable price.

Answer 4

Protolabs can make machine plastics and metals for reasonable cost. I was able to get good looking aluminum parts for less than 100$. They have an interactive quoting tool online, if you have the CAD files for your design.