I need a plastic enclosure made to certain specifications.
I need a box with a hollow bottom and a cutout in the front.
The top, sides, and back are solid with no cutouts.
Something like this but no lip needed along the bottom edge and in the pic it is sitting on it's top.


I am an amazing draftsman so here is the best I can do for showing the dimensions needed.


I know nothing about 3D printing other than folks can do some really cool stuff.
Is this something easily done?

Designing the CAD model shouldn't be too difficult, though you'd also need to specify the wall thickness. Printing something like that won't be too difficult as well, as long as you're willing to accept some rough surface finish on the parts that need to be supported.

The consumer grade 3D printers that you see everywhere around lay down each layer much like a really fine-tipped nozzle on a hot glue gun. If there is nothing to support a layer (imagine the enclosure in your photo printing when it gets to the top of the "window") then the filament can droop. You solve that by printing a support structure that can be broken away.

As long as you don't care about a bit of roughness on the surface finish, that's the only real problem in terms of design and printing, and it's a minor one.

A lot of consumer printers won't have a build area large enough to print something this large though, so that's a minor consideration as well. Then we start talking about filament choice, layer heights and infills and other esoterica that affect print speed, final quality, and strength.

I'll see if I can mock up something that explains what I mean by the support structure, since it's hard to describe in words.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tp1l,

quote:

Originally posted by tp1l:
The consumer grade 3D printers that you see everywhere around lay down each layer much like a really fine-tipped nozzle on a hot glue gun. If there is nothing to support a layer (imagine the enclosure in your photo printing when it gets to the top of the "window" then the filament can droop. You solve that by printing a support structure that can be broken away.

With settings tweaking, a filament printer can actually bridge surprisingly large gaps, but 7" is pushing it.

Another option for this would be to make the CAD model and send it off to a 3D print service like Shapeways that uses expensive commercial 3D printers. Shapeways' basic printing service uses laser sintering printers that can handle gaps and overhangs no problem and leave a better surface finish than filament-based printers.

I did a really quick mock-up to illustrate what I was trying (and probably failing) to explain above.

Here are a few images:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/YqZcnFYSCdKsUVbKA

The first one is your box in SolidWorks with 1/8" wall thickness. The second is a shrunk down version just to show how I'd print it on the printer in my office (I have another that could print this full size, but that slicer is on another computer). The next two show how you'd probably want to support the rim of the "window" so the filament doesn't droop. The green is the support material, and you'd just need to break that away after you got your print back.

If you can find someone with a printer large enough to print your part, get them an STL file (you can have the one I threw together if you like, but it's probably not optimized for your use case) they can probably handle the rest (file settings, supports, etc). The actual cost of the filament used for a part of this size won't be more than $5.00 unless you use something exotic, but the print time even at lower resolutions is likely to be 8+ hours, which may translate into higher costs depending on who is doing the printing.

There are a ton of nuances to 3D printing that don't necessarily apply to your specific part, but there are still things the person doing the printing will need to know about surface quality, dimensional accuracy and desired strength.

Anyway, this was a long way of saying "yes, this is pretty easily done" so please let me know if you have questions about things I haven't covered, or haven't addressed clearly.

quote:

Originally posted by maladat:
With settings tweaking, a filament printer can actually bridge surprisingly large gaps, but 7" is pushing it.

Another option for this would be to make the CAD model and send it off to a 3D print service like Shapeways that uses expensive commercial 3D printers. Shapeways' basic printing service uses laser sintering printers that can handle gaps and overhangs no problem and leave a better surface finish than filament-based printers.

Both very good points. Shapeways offers tons of options and good quality prints, but it's going to be really costly for something this size I think. But if there are no available printers in the area, it's certainly an option.

Edit: ...or maybe not. Their cheapest option for this sized part is $200! I uploaded their materials selection page to the album linked above.

What you are showing isn’t exactly an ideal object for 3D printing. It isn’t that you couldn’t do it, just that 3D printing probably isn’t the cheapest or fastest way to get what you want. For what you have drawn, why not buy a sheet of 1/4” Lexan, cut out the sides and bottom, and glue them together? That should end up just as strong, if not stronger, and cutting squares out of Lexan or some sort of Acrylic is pretty simple.

To 3D print it you will first need to make, or have made, a CAD model. Either you invest the time to make it yourself, or pay someone to do it. Then, you would need to pay a service to print it. Prints are usually priced by the amount of material used as well as a factor for how much space it takes up on the print bed. Your part doesn’t use too much material, but does require a good amount of space on the print bed. If you were to price it out at shapeways or something like that, I think you would find it is more expensive than you were hoping. I don’t imagine that what you showed, with a quantity of 1, will be less than $50. Simple shapes cost just as much as crazy shapes when you are 3D printing. It is all about how much plastic gets used, and how much stuff you can fit on the print bed at once.

- Bret

Sadlerbw this thread had me thinking the same thought as you.

A whole lot of facets that I did not know to consider.

The only wall thickness that is limited is the sides and they can't be more than a 1/4" since the overall width of the box is 7 3/4" and the cutout is 7 1/8"

This seems a bit more difficult that I had expected and looking like more costly due to size and needing the professional unit.

In other brain storming. I figure it is just a box with an open bottom.

So I need 5 rectangles one of which having a rectangle cutout.

In googling custom cut plastic I located a place that cuts custom sized black plastic cutting board.
I could have the 5 individual pieces cut to size then take the front have have the opening milled out.
The 5 cutting board would cost $30.

Then use some sort of adhesive and finishing nails to hold it together. Would not be all that pretty but am not really concerned with that.
Function over form in this application.

Thanks for the info on the 3D printing.

I can't disagree with any of that. I have access to a lot of different tools, and sometimes it's easier for me to think in terms of whipping up something in SolidWorks and throwing it on the printer than dealing with a different kind of assembly (folded aluminum, glued polycarbonate, tab-and-slot lasercut acrylic, etc).

If you decide that 3D printing is the way to go, please feel free to drop me an email and we might be able to work something out. The printer in my shop that can do this kind of work is down for maintenance right now, but once it's back up again, it wouldn't be a huge hassle.

But you're both right that this is a simple enough design that there are a lot of ways to fabricate something that will do the job.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
Sadlerbw this thread had me thinking the same thought as you.

A whole lot of facets that I did not know to consider.

The only wall thickness that is limited is the sides and they can't be more than a 1/4" since the overall width of the box is 7 3/4" and the cutout is 7 1/8"

This seems a bit more difficult that I had expected and looking like more costly due to size and needing the professional unit.

In other brain storming. I figure it is just a box with an open bottom.

So I need 5 rectangles one of which having a rectangle cutout.

In googling custom cut plastic I located a place that cuts custom sized black plastic cutting board.
I could have the 5 individual pieces cut to size then take the front have have the opening milled out.
The 5 cutting board would cost $30.

Then use some sort of adhesive and finishing nails to hold it together. Would not be all that pretty but am not really concerned with that.
Function over form in this application.

Thanks for the info on the 3D printing.

If you decide to do something like this, another option to consider is that you could get all the pieces laser-cut out of a sheet of acrylic, polycarbonate, or plywood.

This is a common construction method for box-shaped things. Usually the edges would be cut into interlocking joints.

Some info here:
https://www.ponoko.com/blog/de...ut-interlocking-box/

Easy peasy. All of my printers can handle the size no problem. The only "big" concern would be basically what it will be used for to determine the best material for it.

Examples being ABS or PET-G if you were using it in a higher heat situation like in a car or something that would be sitting outside year round, or it can be printed in standard PLA which doesn't hold up as well to the higher heat and whatnot but it still plenty good for a general use thing.
I have a cigarette box I did with PLA probably 4 years ago now and other than being a bit dirty, it is just as good today as it was right off the printer.

quote:

Originally posted by PakRatJR:
Easy peasy. All of my printers can handle the size no problem. The only "big" concern would be basically what it will be used for to determine the best material for it.

Examples being ABS or PET-G if you were using it in a higher heat situation like in a car or something that would be sitting outside year round, or it can be printed in standard PLA which doesn't hold up as well to the higher heat and whatnot but it still plenty good for a general use thing.
I have a cigarette box I did with PLA probably 4 years ago now and other than being a bit dirty, it is just as good today as it was right off the printer.

It will be mounted on the dash of a vehicle.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:


It will be mounted on the dash of a vehicle.

Ok so PLA would be out. I don't really have the ability for ABS at the moment but I am looking at a couple other materials. I will probably end up not being able to do for ya but I did a quick cad of it also and it looks about 14ish hours for "normal" quality and speed....so not too bad actually lol

As tp1l mentioned as well, it really is a quick and easy thing. As I have it right now, if PLA would have worked, I could probably have it printed and out the door by Friday or Saturday. And it is also something that I would actually print myself if I was in need of it. Which is exactly why I love the 3D printing hobby

If I did more playing around with ABS I would do it for ya no problem but it would probably be a bit for me to get used to ABS.

14 hours
I really know nothing of this stuff. Never imagined it would take that long.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
14 hours
I really know nothing of this stuff. Never imagined it would take that long.

With the common filament type of hobby 3D printer, you have to build the whole thing up, one less-than-a-millimeter-thick layer at a time, by putting down a single stripe of plastic less than a millimeter wide. It really is like using a hot glue gun with a very, very fine nozzle to make an entire whatever you're making.

The machines actually move around startlingly fast given how precise they have to be, but it still takes a long time.

14 hours is really not that long. I have had things that are multiple days per part. The nice thing is once you hit print you just let it do it's thing. One of the running "jokes" of sorts is the whole magic time between when you go to bed one night and wake up the next day and a part just "appears"

Black92LX, I could probably help with this and could do it in ABS or other materials that would handle vehicle use well, sent you an email with some more questions.

quote:

Originally posted by cschiel:
Black92LX, I could probably help with this and could do it in ABS or other materials that would handle vehicle use well, sent you an email with some more questions.

I replied. Sorry for the delayed response extra long day at work.

May I suggest that you also consider the structural requirements of your box. It is possible that you are planning to mount a car electronic item within. The dimensions shown are for a standard car stereo DIN at 2 1/8 x 7 1/8.

If so, the bending moments of any object of mass mounted to a plastic wall will induce a cracking at corners. The vibration of a mass attached to the walls would fatigue the plastic. The standard DIN mount sleeve has tabs that bend over the sidewalls of the front panel, and you would have to apply a crushing load on those metal tabs to wrap them around the plastic wall. In addition, the normal practice of having a mounting strap at the rear for suspending the radio or whatever it is must be considered.

You are correct Sir.

cschiel seemed to figure that out as well and made some added design suggestions.

That's just barely too big for my printer (~7" cubed) or I'd offer to do it (it would get me to finally fix the damn broken heat bed).

The hole isn't that big of a deal, but you'd probably want to reinforce a few areas based on what you're mounting. The hole could either have support pillars (if surface finish isn't really a big deal) or you could print it in pieces & glue together (depending on structural concerns).

One of the 1st things I made with my 3d printer (and the reason I bought it) was a screw-together 6-sided box that had different holes/slots/standoffs on 4 sides. It would have been easier to find a plastic box of the correct side & just make panel inserts for it. Live & Learn. ~$500 on 3D printer for a $25 box.... But giant lego men have made it worth the cost.