3D Printed GHPad Case

[bueller]

I've had a GHPad sitting here for months but the lack of a case has put me off getting it finished. While thinking about my options tonight I thought I'd check out some 3D printing companies for pricing, found a company called i.materialise which seems to be able to do stuff fairly cheaply. I knocked up a quick 5x4 GHPad case to get a feel for pricing and was surprised to see I could get a polished and dyed black case for about 25 USD.

[bueller]

Derp. I just realised the USB port is on the wrong side, should not have been working on this at 4am hahaha

[bueller]

MKII complete. Fairly certain this should be good to go now!

Have done some measurements and the standoffs are now at 3.5mm height to allow room for the USB connector, moved the USB cutout to the correct side and confirmed the dimensions against my PCB. Also added a foot to the base to add a very slight tilt.



Here are the price breakdowns from i.materialise for a small GB, beyond 10 orders and the discounts get really shallow.

$33.30 USD ea. @ 1 MOQ
$26.45 USD ea. @ 5 MOQ
$25.32 USD ea. @ 10 MOQ

[CPTBadAss]

I'm not sure what the tolerances on the 3D printer at the company you're using is but those sharp edges might be a problem. I'd put some edge blends on everything. You'll also want to doublecheck that you've built in tolerances. Just because you drew the case at 5", doesn't mean it will print out at 5". You'll have to account for that.

Also I'm not sure if you put some sort of angle on the case but if you want it to be angled a bit, I'd check that again. It looks fairly flat at the moment. I only see a slight angle but I can't judge how much that angle is.

[bueller]

I'm not sure what the tolerances on the 3D printer at the company you're using is but those sharp edges might be a problem. I'd put some edge blends on everything.

I was worried about that too at first but the tolerances on their machines must be pretty decent, looked through the gallery and they've done heaps of similar stuff before.

Here's the specs for polyamide...

Minimum wall thickness
0.8 to 1 mm
Minimum details
0.3 mm
Maximum size
650 x 330 x 560 mm

[CPTBadAss]

Regardless of those tolerances, I'd still blend everything. It prints better in my experience if you don't have sharp corners everywhere. I ran a 3D printer at work for about 8 months.

[bueller]

Cool I'll have to try and figure out some of the free software, I've just been using TinkerCad and it doesn't allow that kind of find tuning as far as I know.

Here's the slant on the case.

[CPTBadAss]

If you're all right with that slant than I'm ok with it. I just thought I'd point it out to be thorough.

I don't know anything about TinkerCad. I highly suggest you get Autodesk Inventor which is offered for free through the Student section on the Autodesk website. I think I got a 3 or 5 year license?

[agodinhost]

Cool I'll have to try and figure out some of the free software, I've just been using TinkerCad and it doesn't allow that kind of find tuning as far as I know.

Here's the slant on the case.

Show Image

I think that would be better to break the pads apart - into a second piece - doing this way you will be able to print it into any homebrew 3d printer (avoiding bridges, when possible, is always a good idea) ...
IMHO
thanks for the model man
 :) :thumb:

[bueller]

Cool I'll have to try and figure out some of the free software, I've just been using TinkerCad and it doesn't allow that kind of find tuning as far as I know.

Here's the slant on the case.

Show Image

I think that would be better to break the pads apart - into a second piece - doing this way you will be able to print it into any homebrew 3d printer (avoiding bridges, when possible, is always a good idea) ...
IMHO
thanks for the model man
 :) :thumb:

Yeah I just did MKIII with different feet and then I just decided to ditch the feet and people can attach rubber bumpers later. Working on the rounded case now, figured out how to hack it together in TinkerCAD so I should have it done soon.

[bueller]

MKIII is all done!

[CPTBadAss]

No inside edge blends?

[bueller]

No inside edge blends?

Started doing it but then I lost the will to live. I'm horrible at this stuff. I think I'll probably just do a one off run to see how it goes and then if it looks good I'll do a GB.

[CPTBadAss]

If you shoot me the file, I'll add them. It shouldn't be that hard. In most of the CAD softwares I've used, it's a button called "edge blend". Should take about 30 seconds to do. I'm guessing it's not like that in TinkerCAD?

I'm betting without the blends, those inside edges are gonna look messy.

Edit: Or if you go down to the third post in this thread, apparently this is how you make fillets/blends in Tinkercad.

[bueller]

If you shoot me the file, I'll add them. It shouldn't be that hard. In most of the CAD softwares I've used, it's a button called "edge blend". Should take about 30 seconds to do. I'm guessing it's not like that in TinkerCAD?

I'm betting without the blends, those inside edges are gonna look messy.

Edit: Or if you go down to the third post in this thread, apparently this is how you make fillets/blends in Tinkercad.

Cheers for your help, got it sorted!

[CPTBadAss]

Much better . Looking forward to seeing this printed!

[bueller]

Ugh the shipping is 22 EUR, looks like might not do a one off. I'll get some high precision calipers from a mate tomorrow and do some more checks and then I'll do a GB, shipping is free on orders over 99 EUR.

[geniekid]

Is the idea to use self-tapping screws to secure the PCB, or are there threaded holes I don't see due to limitations in the 3D modeler?

[bueller]

Is the idea to use self-tapping screws to secure the PCB, or are there threaded holes I don't see due to limitations in the 3D modeler?

I didn't bother threading the holes, figured people could just mark them out with a sharpie and then pre-dill holes.

[bueller]

Scratch that, it's easier if I just do it than a bunch of people drilling stuff.

[agodinhost]

I think it would be better to use larger screw holes - they tend to break really easy into printed parts when you do then like you did (too thin).

again, IMHO.

ty for the drawings man
 

[damorgue]

I have used Materialise, which are based in Belgium I believe, and they have very high end printers and will easily print the sharp edges. Theirs can do 0.3mm wall thickness though, and now that I look at your link they don't appear affiliated even though they share the same name.

Much this depends on what type of printers the manufacturer will use.

I would add some more supports/ribs/struts or whatever youc all them in English, eg something like these along the walls and around the standoffs:

This means you can make the walls thinner and the part cheaper. One of the advantages of additive manufacturing is that it allows you to design really elaborate strength adding details and supports and make the overall shape smaller and cheaper.

[bueller]

Cheers for the help guys, both great suggestions.