Custom plastic enclosure options - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: MagicSmoker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2017, 06:02:39 pm
content: I need a few different custom plastic enclosures designed and made for some oddball gadgets I want to produce as a side project but I personally lack the skills or software to do this myself. All of the gadgets are likely to be low volume (20-200 pieces per year) but not terribly price sensitive (I don't need injected molded in China prices, in other words).I am open to farming out the 3D cad drawing and, possibly, getting single prototypes made with a 3D printer to a plucky maker type, but for the purposes of this thread I am interested in hearing others' experiences with any of the many custom electronics enclosure businesses that advertise on the web. E.g. - ClicFold, Toolless Plastic Enclosures, Polycase, etc.

author: Romain
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2017, 07:33:06 pm
content: Have you considered off-the-shelf enclosures with customization? (such as milling, overlays, screening etc).I'm waiting for my first samples fromTakachi Enclosure! Will let you know when get them

author: MagicSmoker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 20, 2017, 08:08:54 pm
content: Two of the gadgets are handheld (a UV light and a non-contact current probe) and another is a backpack power inverter for operating lawn equipment, so I'm not likely to find anything off the shelf that can be customized (except, perhaps, for the non-contact probe).

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 21, 2017, 01:41:24 am
content: I worked for a short time at the Australian equivalent ofhttp://www.toollessplasticenclosures.com/as a designer/troubleshooter and making up prototypes. It is a great technique for medium to large enclosures, but quite limited for smaller (handheld) ones. It also can look a bit dated design wise as curves are tricky. I see some pretty nice designs on the web gallery, but almost all are bench top or floor standing for high value (e.g. medical) devices.As Romain mentioned, most OTS enclosure manufacturers (OKW, Hammond, etc) will do custom machining - which is great if they have a suitable enclosure to start with.I often use 3D printed (FDM ABS) enclosures for various devices with specific form factors, such as animal trackers. I typically do the model in Geomagic, but plan to move to Fusion 360. After 3D printing we (my customer or I) coat the ABS with resin to provide extra strength and make it water tight. Admittedly the animals aren't too fussy about quality of finishYou can use a service like Shapeways or Protolabs to deliver those kinds of quantities with a production level (polished) finish in various materials. Both services have really neat on-line analysis tools where you upload your 3D model and it does a manufacturability analysis, giving almost immediate feedback on any problems with your model. I've had samples from Shapeways, and they're much more dimensionally accurate than my small 3D printer can manage, but I'm "restoring" a second hand 3D Systems Projet so I may be able to print much better resolution parts in-house soon.For larger or more mechanically complex designs, I CNC parts out of sheet Aluminium, Acetal, HIPS, or Acrylic, and bend as needed. I could outsource this, but most of these devices are made very small quantity (<5 per year), so I do practically all the assembly in-house myself.

author: MagicSmoker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2017, 10:52:33 am
content: Quote from: Kean on March 21, 2017, 01:41:24 amYes, that was my impression oftoollessas well, and the reason why I started this thread; it seemed like they might be able to make what I want until I looked at the gallery and saw that none of the examples were anything close to what I am looking for.Quote from: Kean on March 21, 2017, 01:41:24 amI totally forgot about Shapeways, and it looks like a one-stop shop for me as it both hosts a community of designers as well as the 3D printing service. I envisioned using 3D printing for the prototypes, at least, and then maybe transitioning to some kind of molding process if volume warranted it. And Protolab does short-run injection molding, so those two suggestions appear to complement each other well.

author: Kean
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 21, 2017, 12:21:08 pm
content: Also check outhttps://www.3dhubs.com/Many of the hubs are just hobbyists looking to help others (or pay off their purchase), but if you search your local area you might find a hub that offers modelling services (& invoicing). There are search filters for those services.

author: MagicSmoker
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2017, 02:35:19 pm
content: Quote from: Kean on March 21, 2017, 12:21:08 pmAnother excellent suggestion! There are several people near me with some pretty sophisticated hardware on 3dhubs. I just need to ferret out the ones that can also design the enclosures for me. Thanks again!

author: ar__systems
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: March 21, 2017, 08:18:14 pm
content: find some box from polycase.They can make you holes and such as required. I use them for like 15 years