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I think this method give a much better quality feel than 3D printed cases and seems to be a fair amount cheaper. I'd love to be able to do stuff like this. Thou

I think this method give a much better quality feel than 3D printed cases and seems to be a fair amount cheaper. I'd love to be able to do stuff like this. Thought before of gutting old printers and going to DIY CNC route. To much cool stuff to do!

hwillis 9y ago
The two-panel cases look very nice, but I hate the jigsaw-puzzle look of lasercut cases and mechanisms. It can be fairly strong but in practice people rarely put in the thought necessary for that. Carelessly designed lasercut cases can be very weak indeed. On the other hand 3d printed cases can be beautiful and much more sophisticated[1] than lasercut. You aren't limited by the need for huge gussets and dozens of pain in the ass square nuts. Plus you can have curved surfaces. [1]: https://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/tuco_flyer.jpg https://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/tuco_flyer.j...
- alex_hitchins 9y ago
  Ah, intersting. I too am not such a fan of the jigsaw look, it was the rigidity and strength that I liked. If you say they aren't as strong in practice, perhaps 3D printing would be better. I've only ever seen really good prints come from expensive machines with a fair amount of post-processing going on. TBH currently I just get cases from Hammond most of the time. It's the creation of front panels as well that I'd like to achieve more cleanly. As it's just my hobby, I can just about put up with the misaligned square holes!
  - gh02t 9y ago
    3D printed cases can look good with a bit of practice and the cost of a decent 3D printer is much lower than a laser cutter that can cut acrylic. Probably the most popular one with budger makers right now is the CR-10, which is big enough for pretty much any enclosure you could want and only costs $400. I make snap fit enclosures all the time with minimal (usually no) post processing. There isn't a lot of difference between high and low end FDM printers in terms of print quality, the difference is more with UI polish and idiot-proofness. With a bit of practice however you can get very high quality prints out of any recent printer as long as it isn't a total mess in terms of design.
    - alex_hitchins 9y ago
      I think before getting any kit (if I do) it would be very sensible to master the software first. Have to look at some NYCNC tutorials and such to ensure I don't end up with an expensive bit of desk art.
      - gh02t 9y ago
        I love that channel! And I understand completely, it's easy for tools like that to sit collecting dust unless you have the right combination of skills and interests. I usually tell people that a 3D printer is not at all worth it unless you're planning on designing and fabricating your own custom parts and you have a need to do so. I also have a basic CNC machine which I like, but of the big three maker machines (3D printer, laser cutter, CNC) I'd say the 3D printer is probably the one you want first because it's the most versatile. I mostly use the CNC for fabricating one-off PCBs and while I get a lot of use out of it for that most of the other things I could do with it I just do with a 3D printer. The CNC is a lot messier and more complicated, especially if you wanna cut wood or metal and if you want to do true 3D carves you need to do some proper CAM, which is a whole different skill set from CAD. Laser cutters have a lot of downsides, especially if you are looking into one at home. Smaller diode laser cutters/engravers are more accessible to someone at home, but they can have a hard time cutting acrylic, particularly clear acrylic. You can get fairly affordable CO2 lasers now in the $5-600 with good laser performance but apparently the electronics suck so you need to change em and focusing the beam is a pain (it's invisible). My main problem with lasers though is that they are potentially very dangerous. One mistake can leave you blind or on fire, which means you have to take a lot of care using them, adding hassle. Plus you need to manage fume extraction carefully, as laser cutting produces pretty harmful vapors that need to be filtered and vented. What I'm getting at is: 3D printer - minimal hassle, maximum versatility, good for home. CNC machine - medium hassle, medium-low versatility, kinda borderline depending on your use. Laser - high hassle, medium versatility, I'd rather go to a dedicated shop than deal with one at home. Side note, designing a DIY CNC mill is kinda hard because their mechanical requirements are actually quite extreme even at the low end. You'll end up spending a lot of time and money on it, especially when you can get a cheap-but-pretty-good mill from Aliexpress.
  - nerfhammer 9y ago
    laser cutting also has the advantage that each attempt takes 30 seconds rather than 3 hours. so you have orders of magnitude more capacity for trial and error.
    - Varcht 9y ago
      I agree! Fail fast, I don't know how many times a 3D Print has failed on me after half a day of printing, pretty depressing. I've had some spectacular failures on my laser and cnc machines that barely phased me compared to losing a print.

hwillis 9y ago

The two-panel cases look very nice, but I hate the jigsaw-puzzle look of lasercut cases and mechanisms. It can be fairly strong but in practice people rarely put in the thought necessary for that. Carelessly designed lasercut cases can be very weak indeed. On the other hand 3d printed cases can be beautiful and much more sophisticated[1] than lasercut. You aren't limited by the need for huge gussets and dozens of pain in the ass square nuts. Plus you can have curved surfaces. [1]: https://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/tuco_flyer.jpg https://hackadaycom.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/tuco_flyer.j...

alex_hitchins 9y ago
Ah, intersting. I too am not such a fan of the jigsaw look, it was the rigidity and strength that I liked. If you say they aren't as strong in practice, perhaps 3D printing would be better. I've only ever seen really good prints come from expensive machines with a fair amount of post-processing going on. TBH currently I just get cases from Hammond most of the time. It's the creation of front panels as well that I'd like to achieve more cleanly. As it's just my hobby, I can just about put up with the misaligned square holes!
- gh02t 9y ago
  3D printed cases can look good with a bit of practice and the cost of a decent 3D printer is much lower than a laser cutter that can cut acrylic. Probably the most popular one with budger makers right now is the CR-10, which is big enough for pretty much any enclosure you could want and only costs $400. I make snap fit enclosures all the time with minimal (usually no) post processing. There isn't a lot of difference between high and low end FDM printers in terms of print quality, the difference is more with UI polish and idiot-proofness. With a bit of practice however you can get very high quality prints out of any recent printer as long as it isn't a total mess in terms of design.
  - alex_hitchins 9y ago
    I think before getting any kit (if I do) it would be very sensible to master the software first. Have to look at some NYCNC tutorials and such to ensure I don't end up with an expensive bit of desk art.
    - gh02t 9y ago
      I love that channel! And I understand completely, it's easy for tools like that to sit collecting dust unless you have the right combination of skills and interests. I usually tell people that a 3D printer is not at all worth it unless you're planning on designing and fabricating your own custom parts and you have a need to do so. I also have a basic CNC machine which I like, but of the big three maker machines (3D printer, laser cutter, CNC) I'd say the 3D printer is probably the one you want first because it's the most versatile. I mostly use the CNC for fabricating one-off PCBs and while I get a lot of use out of it for that most of the other things I could do with it I just do with a 3D printer. The CNC is a lot messier and more complicated, especially if you wanna cut wood or metal and if you want to do true 3D carves you need to do some proper CAM, which is a whole different skill set from CAD. Laser cutters have a lot of downsides, especially if you are looking into one at home. Smaller diode laser cutters/engravers are more accessible to someone at home, but they can have a hard time cutting acrylic, particularly clear acrylic. You can get fairly affordable CO2 lasers now in the $5-600 with good laser performance but apparently the electronics suck so you need to change em and focusing the beam is a pain (it's invisible). My main problem with lasers though is that they are potentially very dangerous. One mistake can leave you blind or on fire, which means you have to take a lot of care using them, adding hassle. Plus you need to manage fume extraction carefully, as laser cutting produces pretty harmful vapors that need to be filtered and vented. What I'm getting at is: 3D printer - minimal hassle, maximum versatility, good for home. CNC machine - medium hassle, medium-low versatility, kinda borderline depending on your use. Laser - high hassle, medium versatility, I'd rather go to a dedicated shop than deal with one at home. Side note, designing a DIY CNC mill is kinda hard because their mechanical requirements are actually quite extreme even at the low end. You'll end up spending a lot of time and money on it, especially when you can get a cheap-but-pretty-good mill from Aliexpress.
- nerfhammer 9y ago
  laser cutting also has the advantage that each attempt takes 30 seconds rather than 3 hours. so you have orders of magnitude more capacity for trial and error.
  - Varcht 9y ago
    I agree! Fail fast, I don't know how many times a 3D Print has failed on me after half a day of printing, pretty depressing. I've had some spectacular failures on my laser and cnc machines that barely phased me compared to losing a print.