Easy laser-cut electronics cases

I’ve created some quite fancy cases with screwless clipping systems, built-in network switches, fans, etc. But this article gathers together three basic designs that can be made from wood or plastic in just a few minutes with a suitable laser cutter.

Access to a laser cutter may be easier than you think, with most cities now having a community Maker Space/Hack Space with tools such as laser cutters, CNC machines and 3D printers. Alternatively there are a number of web-based laser cutting services that will let you upload a design file and cut the pieces for you. I used Access Space in Sheffield, and their 40W laser.

Marvell ESPRESSObin case

SBC

The Marvell ESPRESSObin is an ARM-basedthat offers two killer features over the usual Raspberry Pi and similar boards: multiple networking ports, and fast storage links via SATA and USB3.0. This makes it ideal for use as low-cost network file server/firewall/router, which I've done in myarticle (). The article includes network & storage benchmarks.

The design is really as simple as you can get: a horizontal slice for the top+bottom, held together with four sets of two hex spacers & screws. All the external ports are accessible with this case, and port labels are etched on its top. A small ventilation grill on the underside of the case is positioned to allow cool air to be sucked past the Armada 88F3700 SoC (the main heat-generating chip) by passive convection. You could easily customise the design to allow for connecting to the GPIO headers from above. The bottom screws sit proud of the case, and act as ‘feet’ to stop the acrylic case getting scratched.

I used the free Inkscape application for 2D design, ready for exporting to the laser cutter. Each colour is a different pass of the laser, at different power/speed levels, so the green lines are cut first to make holes for ports, orange is text/lines that are etched and finally blue cuts the outside of each panel. Download files for laser cutting (requires approx 200x130mm) on a 3mm thick sheet:



The completed case is 114.5 x 88.5 x 34mm (4 1⁄ 2 " x 3 1⁄ 2 " x 1 5⁄ 16 ").

Bill of materials:

M3-size components can alternatively be used instead of M2.5, and may be easier to find.

3mm clear perspex 200x130mm (extruded or cast) £0.58 Laser cutting charge n/a M2.5 nylon hex spacer 15mm female (4 from 10 pack) £0.99 M2.5 nylon hex spacer 5mm female+6mm male (4 from 20 pack) £1.17 M2.5 nylon 6mm screws (8 from 10 pack) £0.99 Total for case, inc P&P £3.73 Marvell ESPRESSObin board 1Gb1 £72.16 Total for everything, inc P&P £75.89

1US$49 ESPRESSObin + 20% VAT + $31.66 shipping + 0% import duty + £12 FedEx admin fee = £72.16



Raspberry Pi Zero+Stackable Hub case

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The Raspberry Pi Zero almost seems like the perfect maker board: tiny, cheap & uses very little power. Until that is you want to connect it to a power supply, keyboard, mouse & WiFi/Ethernet adaptor, and you realise that it reallybe perfect if you had a tiny USB hub to go along with it...

This is a case that combines a Pi Zero with the MakerSpot 4-port USB Stackable Hub. The case sides slot tightly into the top & bottom pieces, but the case is actually held together with with four sets of hex spacers & screws. The bottom screws sit proud of the case, and act as ‘feet’ to stop the acrylic case getting scratched. You can download the plans for, customise if you want to, and laser-cut in 3mm extruded acrylic (perspex). Extruded acrylic is used (instead of cast acrylic) because it has better thickness tolerances for fitting the pieces together:

The microUSB ports and GPIO on the Zero are hidden, but the microHDMI, microSD card, and all the ports on the USB hub are available. You could easily customise the design to allow for connecting to the GPIO header from above. I used the free version of SketchUp to make a rough 3D model first, just to ensure I got my dimensions correct:

I used the free Inkscape application for 2D design, ready for exporting to the laser cutter. Each colour is a different pass of the laser, at different power/speed levels, so the green lines are cut first to make holes for ports, orange is text/lines that are etched and finally blue cuts the outside of each panel. The yellow rings were an attempt to laser engrave part-way into the top of the case panel, to allow the screw heads to sit flush. It takes some experimentation to get the laser speed/power settings right, so you might prefer to just not bother. Download files for laser cutting (requires approx 150x80mm) on a 3mm thick sheet:



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The blue-coloured side panels of the case are actually just clear perspex, but with their blue protective film left on. I quite like the effect, and it saved me from buying a separate sheet of coloured perspex. The completed case is 76 x 42 x 25.4mm

Bill of materials:

3mm extruded clear perspex 150x80mm £0.27 Laser cutting charge n/a M2.5 nylon washers (8 from 10 pack) £0.99 M2.5 nylon hex spacer 5mm female+6mm male (4 from 20 pack) £1.17 M2.5 nylon hex spacer 8mm female (4 from 20 pack) £1.83 M2.5 nylon 6mm screws (4 from 10 pack) £0.99 M2.5 nylon 8mm screws (4 from 10 pack) £0.99 Total for case, inc P&P £6.24 Raspberry Pi Zero £6.50 Stackable USB hub1 £11.41 Total for everything, inc P&P £24.15

1Stackable USB hub is US$10 + US$5 shipping to UK (no import tax or VAT) = £11.41

MakerSpot have since launched their own acrylic case Raspberry Pi Zero Protector for 4-Port Stackable USB Hub HAT.

Orange Pi Lite case

SBC

The Orange Pi Lite is yet another small ARM-based, nearly as cheap as a Raspberry Pi Zero, but with far more processing power, and includes WiFi and full-size USB sockets. It could make a perfect networked media player, running something like Kodi?

The board doesn’t include a heatsink as standard, but the case leaves room to add one on the main SoC and I’ve put a small ventilation grill above it for passive cooling. All the ports are accessible with this case, with the larger hole sized to thread the external WiFi antenna. The bottom screws sit proud of the case, and act as ‘feet’ to stop the acrylic case getting scratched.

I used the free Inkscape application for 2D design, ready for exporting to the laser cutter. Each colour is a different pass of the laser, at different power/speed levels, so the green lines are cut first to make holes for ports, orange is text/lines that are etched and finally blue cuts the outside of each panel. Download files for laser cutting (requires approx 130x90mm) on a 3mm thick sheet:



The completed case is 78 x 55 x 31mm (3 1⁄ 16 " x 2 3⁄ 16 " x 1 3⁄ 16 ").

Bill of materials:

M3-size components can alternatively be used instead of M2.5, and may be easier to find.

3mm clear perspex 130x90mm (extruded or cast) £0.26 Laser cutting charge n/a M2.5 nylon hex spacer 15mm female (4 from 10 pack) £0.99 M2.5 nylon hex spacer 5mm female+6mm male (4 from 20 pack) £1.17 M2.5 nylon 6mm screws (8 from 10 pack) £0.99 Total for case, inc P&P £3.41 Orange Pi Lite1 £12.19 Total for everything, inc P&P £15.60

1Orange Pi Lite £9.20 + £2.99 shipping to UK (no import tax or VAT) = £12.19